


Safe House

by Zenny01



Series: Peter Needs Help Sometimes [2]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Awesome Wanda Maximoff, But neither want to admit it, Good Peter, How Do I Tag, Hurt Peter Parker, Injury, Michelle Jones Needs a Hug, Michelle Jones is a badass, Natasha Romanov Feels, Natasha Romanov Is Not A Robot, Not Canon Compliant, Past Torture, Peter Parker Needs a Hug, Post-Captain America: Civil War (Movie), Precious Peter Parker, Protective Tony Stark, Rogue Avengers, Ross is an asshole, Steve Rogers & Natasha Romanov Friendship, Steve Rogers Is a Good Bro, Steve Rogers Needs a Hug, Steve likes Natasha and Natasha likes Steve, Telepathic Wanda Maximoff, Tony Feels, Tony Stark Has A Heart, Tony Stark Needs a Hug, Wanda Maximoff Needs a Hug, peter notices, sedatives
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-06
Updated: 2019-07-12
Packaged: 2019-09-12 16:24:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 21
Words: 23,930
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16876215
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Zenny01/pseuds/Zenny01
Summary: After Peter is injured, the rogue avengers take him in. Everyone works to help him out.





	1. Sedative

**Author's Note:**

> You should definitely read the first work of this series first as this is the sequel. I hope you like it. Don't forget to subscribe or bookmark so you can come back to this.

Steve and Natasha raced to restrain the squirming child. He was thrashing wildly and screaming in pain. Blood pooled on the table around him, dripping to the floor in a red liquid.  _ Poor kid  _ Steve thought to himself. He was still trying to wrap his head around the fact that Spider-Man was a kid. He didn’t look older than 16 years old. And Tony had dragged him into a war zone at the airport. 

“Kid you have to calm down,” Steve said trying to console the child.

“It... it hurts!” The kid screamed in response.

“Nat, grab a sedative!” Steve told the spy. She sprinted to the other side of the Quinjet looking through a few drawers before grabbing a small red vile. She slid it into an injector and pushed a needle through the kid’s arm. The kid stopped. For a few seconds everything was quiet. But a few seconds later the kid burst up in a panic and then screamed as the pain flushed through his body once more. 

Steve stared at the child confused. The sedative should have worked. It works on everyone else. Maybe they could inject him with another dose and see if it worked. But there would be a risk for an overdose and that would make everything worse. Steve’s head ran through all the different possibilities as Natasha tried to soothe the crying boy. Suddenly it hit him. Spider-Man was able to catch part of an airport back in Germany, meaning he had super strength. And if it was anything similar to Steve’s, that meant a very high metabolism. Steve ran over to the other side of the room rummaging through all of the medicine until he found what he was looking for. It was a sedative designed for him when he was injured. If Steve was right, then this should keep the kid under for awhile until they could get him proper treatment, but if he was wrong… 

He couldn’t think about that. The kid would end up dying from blood loss if he didn’t stop moving. Steve ran over to where the child lay on the table, tears streaming down his bruised and bloodied face. Quickly taking one of the kid’s arms, he injected the sedative into his bloodstream. The kid relaxed, the effects being almost immediate. His eyes fluttered shut, and this time they stayed that way. Steve sighed a breath of relief and grabbed some more bandages. Natasha and Steve worked quickly wrapping bandages across some of his more minor injuries. Steve was relieved when he saw some of the minor cuts fading, proving his theory of enhanced abilities correct. 

“Nat, where are we going to take him?” Steve asked. They couldn’t take him to Wakanda. Even if he was just a kid, he sided with Tony. He could expose the country and Steve didn’t want to do that to T’challa. But they couldn’t just take the kid to a hospital. For one thing, the kid might have information on his assailant. The man had been illegally selling high tech weapons and dangerous drugs to criminals and terrorists. But this kid was attacked because the man was trying to draw Steve out into the open. He couldn’t just leave him there.

“If we land somewhere remote maybe we could…” Natasha sighed, “I don’t know, we don’t really have that kind of medical equipment onboard.”

Steve and Natasha sat there drowning in their thoughts. They were still trying to think of a solution when something hit them from below. The Quinjet lurched forward going into a nosedive. The two of them raced to the cockpit to see what had just happened. A US plane zoomed behind them one of the missles having already hit the jet. 

“Crap,” Natasha said buckling into the seat. 

“How the hell did they find us?” Steve asked. He knew there was no way for Nat to know but he still wanted an answer.

“I don’t know,” Natasha responded, “Yet.” 

She expertly maneuvered the aircraft and moved to engage the reflective panels. They’d be invisible. Even heat seeking missiles would fly straight by. After a little while, the fighter pilot gave up, figuring the fugitives had gotten away. The two sighed in relief. 

“Well, that severely limits our options,” Natasha said. “They’ll be on high alert for the next few days.” After contemplating it for a few more minutes, Steve came up with a solution.

“We’ll go to the safe house,” He said. Natasha looked at him like he was crazy.

“No we won’t,” Natasha replied firmly.

“Nat, he needs medical attention. The safe house will have everything we need.”

“We are not risking the lives of everyone there in the process,” Natasha yelled.

“I think they’d understand us bringing a child on the brink of death.” Steve said leaving no room for argument in his voice. “If it helps you feel better, we can blindfold him so he doesn’t know where he is.”

Natasha sighed before finally submitting to Steve’s plan. She turned the jet east heading for the safe house. 

“You should probably change,” She said focusing on piloting. Steve looked down at his uniform. Bloodstains riddled it and he agreed. If he showed up like this, their friends would freak. Walking to the bathroom, Steve carefully took off his clothes and showered. When he got back out, they were still eight hours away. They had decided to take the long way in case they were being followed. It was unlikely, but not a chance he was willing to take. He sat down in the seat next to Nat, leaning back and closing his eyes before drifting to sleep.


	2. Emotionless

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Peter wakes up again and isn't really sure what's going on. Natasha likes Steve and Steve is asleep. Natahsa's POV. In other words, I can't summarize. Enjoy!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I decided to go down the Romanogers route. It made the story flow a lot better in my opinion. I'm sorry it's been so long since I posted the first chapter. Midterms are coming up and until then, my teachers are just going to pile on work. I will try to update more often. School just has been making things difficult. Also, my great uncle passed and so things got really sad too. Also, my grandmother is visiting. So yeah. Really crazy few weeks. So if life doesn't throw any other crap my way, then I will update sometime over the weekend. I didn't edit it so please excuse the grammar mistakes. Enjoy the chapter!

Natasha set the quinjet on autopilot electing to take a shower herself. She turned her seat around to find Steve asleep. Smiling to herself she took in his sleeping form. The way his muscles were outlined by one of his many tight shirts. Sleeping like this, he looked so peaceful and innocent. Lately he seemed to be carrying the world on his shoulders. His eyes were dim with age. Not the physical kind, but the mental. The emotional. He’d already lost everything and he was still just trying to do the right thing. It was one of the reasons she loved him, even if she would never admit it out loud.

Sighing Natasha walked over towards the bathroom. Letting her hair down she stared at it in the mirror. The brunette color was still foreign to her. She missed the red locks and long length. It helped remind her of who she was. When she was in the Red Room, she constantly had to change the way she looked. It kept her from grasping her identity. Helped them control her. Even after she joined the Avengers she couldn’t keep the same hair style for long. It just helped.

Natasha stripped down and took a quick shower.

Walking out from the bathroom she noticed the kid stirring. She walked over to the cabinet to take out one of the sedatives made for Steve, but there was only one left. That wasn’t good. Tony had been the one to design the drug hoping that it would help if Steve was ever injured on a mission. There were only a couple on board when she boarded the quinjet. Steve had used one on Bucky after the incident in Siberia, one when he was shot busting a drug dealer in France, and now one on the child who was nearly beaten to death. _Damnit_ She thought to herself.  


A small groan sounded from the other side of the room. Turning her attention back to the waking boy, she walked across the jet and woke Steve. She felt bad about doing it. While he’d never said anything about it, she knew he didn’t sleep much. The two walked over as the boy became fully conscious. He blinked his eyes open a couple of times before bolting up and jumping onto the ceiling.

“Kid, calm down. Your ok,” Steve said next to her. She moved her hand away from the gun on her holster, realizing it probably wasn’t assuring the kid he was safe.

“Where am I?” The kid squeaked.

“Safe,” Natasha responded not wanting to tell him anymore. She wasn’t entirely sure they could trust him yet. She noticed that most of the cuts and bruises had already faded. But the kid was favoring his left leg. The sword wound began bleeding again, probably from jumping and his increased heart rate. His knee was bent horribly out of shape and his faced was scrunched in pain. 

“Get down before you bleed out,” Natasha said grabbing some nearby bandages. They would definitely need to rebandage his leg. The kid hesitated a moment before lowering himself to the ground. He gasped slightly having to put weight on his leg. Steve guided him to sit down as Natasha took off the old bandages and applied the new ones.

“So increased healing, high metabolism, super strength, and you can stick to things. Did I miss anything?” Natasha inquired.

“I also have like this sixth sense that can detect danger,” The kid said eagerly. Looking down at his leg he added, “I’m still working on it though.” Steve laughed. 

“That guy is tough kid. I’m surprised you lasted as long as you did. What were you doing there anyways?”

“I had a date.”

Natasha noticed Steve tense slightly at that response. It was too similar to his own when he’d come out of the ice.

“What’s your name?” Natasha asked.

“Umm. Do I have to say? Secret identity and all.”

“If you don’t, I’ll figure it out anyways.” The kid sighed. It seemed like he knew keeping a secret from the famous Black Widow was impossible. That was a good instinct.

“It’s Peter,” The kid said. “Parker. Peter Parker.”

“How exactly did this happen?” Steve asked picking up the mask that lay on a nearby table. 

“Well, it’s a long story. But the short version is I was bitten by a radioactive spider. I was sick for a couple of days, but then I woke up and could climb walls and catch busses. I…” Peter paused. His excited face vanished just as suddenly as it appeared. “Something happened. I didn’t stop it. It’s not that I couldn’t. I had the opportunity and I just didn’t do it. And everything bad that happened after was on me. So I became Spider-Man. I helped people as best I could. When Tony recruited my for Germany, I was just so excited. The thought of being an Avenger. Anyways a lot has changed since then. I still keep in contact with Tony. A lot. But I turned down a spot on the team so that I could help the little guy.”

Peter smiled. It wasn’t a very happy smile. It was completely fake. She recognized it instantly. He was burying his emotions deep so that she and Steve wouldn’t reach them. Sighing, she took a look at Peter’s knee. She’d noticed earlier that it looked bent out of shape, but upon further inspection, it looked even worse. It was read and swollen. Bones were snapped out of place and it seemed to be stretched.  


Natasha looked over to Steve. _Well shit,_ she thought to herself. This was not going to be a quick recovery. Despite Peter’s quick healing, these needed to be looked at by a doctor and given the proper treatment. For a normal person, the leg might have needed amputation. Peter was lucky to have it at all. But if it healed back before properly setting it would be difficult, if not impossible, to get it back to full strength. Steve seemed to be thinking the same thing.

“Why don’t you rest kid,” He said. “We’ve still got a while before we get to the safe house.”

Peter nodded and got up to walk to a cot. He immediately crumpled over and shrieked in pain. "Shit," Steve said running over to him. Steve picked the kid up in his arms and lay him down in one of the beds. Pulling a blanket over him, Steve used his last sedative to help Peter fall asleep before sitting next to Natasha. So far this was not going well. Their skin brushed as he leaned back against the cool metal surface of the jet. She looked over at him, trying to keep a poker face on. 

She hated emotions. They were sloppy, messy, and complicated. Growing up, she was always taught that love was for children, and she never had a childhood. So why did she feel so attracted to Steve? The physical aspect was one thing. He truly was a specimen. But it was more than that. The feelings ran deeper, and that terrified her. She’d tried to force love before, with Bruce. But that was a disaster. She was never in love with him. But Steve was something else. He was real. 

Crap what was she doing. Steve didn't deserve this. He deserved so much better. She caught herself staring into Steve’s blue eyes and quickly turned away. She pushed the feelings away trying to come up with something to say. She couldn’t tell Steve, it would complicate things. They couldn’t afford that kind of complication while on the run from just about every country. She cleared her mind, trying to revert back to the emotionless being she usually was.

“You ok?” Steve asked her.

“Yeah fine,” She lied. “Four hours to the safe house.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you liked this! Again sorry it took so long. If you have any suggestions on where to go with this let me know! Comments are appreciated. Thanks.


	3. An Infection

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Peter's wound gets infected.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> None of this is medically accurate but whatever. Also, Clint and Scott aren't under house arrest, because of reasons. So yeah. Enjoy!   
> :)

Peter woke up with a throbbing pain in his head. His entire body ached and his vision blurred as he tried to stand up. An intense pain shot through his leg and Peter let out a small whimper. He felt like he would throw up at any given moment and black spots temporarily clouded his vision.

“Take it easy kid,” Steve said walking over to him. 

“You ok?” Natasha asked. Peter nodded slowly trying not to aggravate his headache.

“I’m fine,” Peter responded not wanting to worry them. Apparently, he wasn’t very convincing. In an instant, Natasha was by his side. She put her hand over Peter’s forehead and frowned.

“You’re running a little hot. Do you feel anything else? Nausea, lightheadedness, etc?” She asked. Peter had felt all those things in the last few minutes but he didn’t want to say anything. He had no idea if he could trust her and Steve. They may have helped him but they were still international fugitives.

“No, I’m fine. Really I’m ok. How far away are we?” Peter asked desperately trying to change the subject.

“Nice try,” Natasha said. “Don’t lie to me. You might have an infection.” Shaking her head and sighing, Natasha pulled up Peter’s pant leg. Red streaks surrounded the bullet wound, but the wound itself was an ugly green. She put her finger over the wound and Peter bit back a scream.

“I have enhanced healing. I’ll be fine,” Peter said trying to shrug it off.

“So does Steve, and I’ve treated him for this stuff a lot. He’s just as stubborn as you are,” Natasha said.

“Hey!” Steve protested. Natasha smiled before turning back to Peter.

“It’s definitely infected. You’ll have to stay off of it for a while. I’ll need to get you some antibiotics.” 

“How are you going to do that?” Peter asked hoping that she wasn’t going to steal them.

“I’m going to go into a drug store, walk up to the counter, and... ask for antibiotics,” Natasha responded sarcastically. “We’re not in the US so we don’t need a prescription for them.” Peter’s face turned red with embarrassment.

“Oh,” Peter said turning away. Steve smiled as he did. “I’ve never been out of the country before. Well except Germany…” Peter trailed off realizing that it probably wasn’t a good idea to bring up a time he fought against Captain America. Luckily for him, Steve only laughed. 

Natasha turned around walking to the front of the jet. She pulled some cream and pills out of a drawer before turning back towards Peter. Kneeling down in front of him she opened the cream and put some on her hand. 

“This might sting,” She said rubbing it onto Peter’s wound. Peter couldn’t help it. A screech of pain escaped his lips.

“What the hell is that?” Peter yelled.

“It’s a disinfection cream. It will help you heal faster,” Natasha explained.

“Do you have to use that?”

“Unless you’d prefer an IV and bed rest until the swelling goes down, yes.” Steve said. That shut Peter up quickly. He did not like the idea of having tubes sticking out of his body. Natasha smiled.

“So you do learn?” She asked. Steve rolled his eyes.

“It was one time and you overreacted. It was just a cut.”

“A cut that was yellow with red streaks and hadn’t disappeared in weeks despite your healing abilities.”

Steve froze pondering his response.

“I didn’t need an IV,” Steve protested.

“How did you even do that?” Peter asked curiously. If Steve hadn’t wanted something, he’d have fought it and he was much stronger than Natasha. 

“After the mission, Steve went to the bathroom to freshen up. I snuck up on him and sedated him. I put the IV in and then chained him to the bed. I had Wanda keep him under for a few days. So in case, you were doubting my ability to get you medical attention, just remember, even Captain America couldn’t escape me.”

Steve rolled his eyes. He smiled at Natasha playfully hitting her in the arm. As soon as Steve turned around Peter could’ve sworn he saw Natasha’s cheeks turn pink for just a millisecond. Did she blush? Was the famous Black Widow even possible of such a thing. Maybe it was just his fever.

“We’re here,” Steve said from the front of the jet. Looking out the front window, Peter saw a small farm house. It was quaint and inconspicuous. The perfect place for international fugitives to lay low.

“Come on,” Steve said walking over. Peter stood up and the world went black for a second. Steve told him to sit down for a second and went to talk to Natasha

“Natasha, what if he recognizes where we are?” Steve said oblivious to Peter’s enhanced hearing.

“Steve, it’ll be ok. I trust him.”

“It took me like two and a half years to earn your trust. Tony never even had it in the first place. But you just met him, and he’s trustworthy?”

“Don’t be an ass, Steve,” Natasha warned. Sighing she continued. “Look, I know it’s hard for you to trust anyone anymore. After everything that happened with Shield, with Tony, with the rest of the world. I wouldn’t trust anyone either. Especially after everything you’ve done, you don’t deserve to be on the run the rest of your life. But look at the people that have stuck around. Sam, Wanda, Scott, Clint… Me. You can’t shut everyone out.” 

Steve looked down at the ground pondering his options. “Ok. Fine.”

The pair walked back over to Peter to help him stand. Pain shot through his leg. He leaned on Steve for support while Natasha walked ahead to open the hangar door. Peter noticed Steve watching her, carefully examining her movements. When the door opened, Natasha walked out but Steve just stood there. 

“You coming?” Natasha asked over her shoulder.

Steve smiled before helping Peter wobble along. After nearly falling for the fourth time, Steve just picked Peter up trying not to aggravate his wounds. Looking at the spy and the soldier, Peter knew something was going on between them, though both of them seemed oblivious. Smiling to himself, he made himself a promise. He was going to figure out what was going on between them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm thinking of doing each chapter from a different character's perspective. What do you think? I hope you liked this chapter. Updates coming soon.


	4. One of Us

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The quinjet arrives at the safe house.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I wrote this on my phone and grammar is non exist. I hope you like it!

Wanda was outside watching Lila, Cooper, and Cassie as they played near the barn. They were staying off the grid at a safehouse Clint set up before he joined shield. No one knew about it, which was why when Wanda heard the sound of engines, she quickly sent the kids inside. Making her way towards some bushes for cover, Wanda began to wonder who it could be. Steve and Natasha said they’d be gone days tracking some new player across the states, so unless one of them got hurt it wasn’t them. 

As the engines died down Wanda’s became red and her hands were surrounded by spheres of magic. As the first person emerged from the plane, Wanda quickly kept into action using her magic to place a kitchen knife at the intruders throat. She felt bad about destroying the kitchen window, but she could fix it later. Wanda came out of her cover to see who it was landed at the safe house. It was Natasha. Wanda ran over to her dropping the knife and letting the red magic fade. If she was back that meant that she or Steve could be in trouble. 

Behind Natasha, Wanda could make out another figure.

“Are you guys ok?” Wanda asked hoping their return was for some other reason. Steve stepped out of the shadows and Wanda saw he was carrying a young boy in his arms. The boy was extremely pale and he looked to be in tremendous amount of pain. A large bullet wound was on his exposed flesh. The skin surrounding it was an ugly green and red streaks went up and down his leg. It was definitely infected. Looking down further, the kid’s leg was bent at an awkward angle. His knee looked like it had collapsed in on itself.

“Oh my god!” She cried putting her hand over her mouth. There on the child’s chest was the symbol of Spider-Man. 

“He needs medical attention.” Steve said calmly. “Wanda could you…” he trailed off. But Wanda knew exactly what he meant. The kid had to be in insurmountable pain. Wanda let her eyes glow red once more as she began to use her powers to send the child into a peaceful sleep. It took a lot of energy to do it. She’d only done it once before. Steve has been injured on a mission and refused to let anyone treat him because he thought he was fine. No one could get close enough to sedate him, so she used her powers in a final attempt. And by some miracle it worked. But Wanda nearly passed out in the process.

She had just managed to put the kid asleep when she felt someone else’s presence. An arrow flew through the air. It was surrounded by red and stopped inches from the kid’s face. Turning around she saw Clint, Sam, and Scott running over.

“What the hell Clint?” Natasha yelled.

“Sorry. Lila told us that you were fighting intruders.” Clint said plainly. Wanda sighed refocusing her energy on the kid. Once she was sure he wouldn’t wake up for a while, she relaxed. She was out of breath. Turning, she noticed Steve talking to Clint, Sam, and Scott about the kid. Natasha was inside getting the kid, whose name was Peter, inside. So Wanda decided to walk over to the group. 

“Is Peter asleep?” Steve asked. Wanda nodded still trying to catch her breath. “Are you ok?”

“Yeah,” Wanda said. “He was easier than you.” Steve smiles and chuckled for a second.

“I had to use the last two of my sedatives on him on the way here.” Wanda froze on hearing that. Those sedatives were irreplaceable.

“How the hell was he awake when he got here then?” Sam asked.

“He has enhanced metabolism,” Steve explained. “It’s similar to mine. It burned through the sedatives just as quickly as I do. That’s why I asked Wanda do put him under, that doesn’t rely on metabolism or a healing factor.”

Wanda nodded. It made sense. But it was still kind of hard for her to believe a teenager was Spider-Man. It shouldn’t be so difficult to accept that. She herself was only seventeen when she got her powers, but she was selfish with them. And because of that people died.

“Are you sure we can trust him?” Clint asked warily. “He did fight alongside Stark.” Her anger flared at the mention of his name. Wanda had a deep hatred for Tony Stark. Originally, it had been because his weapon killed her parents. She blamed herself for Ultron, but Tony has just as big of a part to play in that. She tried to bury her feelings, it made it harder to control her powers but he had helped her to become an Avenger. A hero. So she buried  them. Until he he saw her on the raft.

She was tortured there. Assaulted. Experimented on. He walked passed her seeing the shock collar around her neck and the scratches all over her face, and he did nothing. He barely spared her a glance. 

“He’s hurt.” Wanda stated. “Doesn’t matter if we can trust him we have to help him. We’re not Tony, we help people in pain.” Clint backed off realizing he’d hit a nerve. Natasha walked back out with Nathaniel in her arms and Laura at her side. Luckily, she’d already explained the situation to Laura. 

“Sorry we spring this on you guys, but he would have died from his injuries or been taken by the police otherwise.” Natasha said.

“It’s ok,” Laura said kindly. “I wouldn’t have expected any less of you. The problem is treating the wounds.”

“I can take care of that,” both Natasha and Steve said simultaneously.

“I learned to administer medical techniques in the red room.” Natasha explained.

“I learned treating soldiers during the war,” Steve joined. Wanda smiles noticing how close the two were. Even if they wouldn’t admit it, Wanda knew they liked each other. She may have looked in their minds to find out.

“That’s fine,” Wanda said. “I’ll be nearby. If he wakes up or anything I’ll be there.” Everyone agreed. The group walked back to the house but Steve remembered something and stopped them on the way in. 

“He wont be able to go home.” Steve said. “I checked the news on the quintet, Ross is blaming him for damage done to a diner near where he was fighting. It’s not true but…” Natasha cut him off.

“It’s total bull shit Steve. There were pictures of the diner online. That was the remains of a bombing. Definitely not Peter’s fault. But since Ross is claiming he violated the accords…” 

“If he goes home he’ll be put in jail.” Wanda finished. “In the raft.” Natasha nodded while Steve looked down towards the ground. “He’s one of us now.” Wanda said sadly. 

“It’s probably best we wait to tell him. He needs to heal first.” 

The group went inside and dispersed. Wanda went upstairs to her room before heading sniffling. Following the sound, she entered a room at the end of the hall. Peter sat on his bed curled up and crying. His pale skin was damp with tears and his eyes were red. 

“How much of that did you hear?” Wanda asked. Peter looked up at her slowly. 

“All of it.” 

Wanda sighed walking over and sitting next to him on the bed. “It’ll be ok,” Wanda said trying to reassure him. 

“It’s not. I have a life in New York. My aunt is probably really worried. And Ned and MJ.” Wanda’s heart broke watching the child break down in front of her.

“It will get better. Eventually. But for now you need to rest.”

“What do you even do on the run?” Peter asked.

“You learn to be quiet, careful, and stealthy. Hiding in plain sight is the key.”

“Doesn’t that get boring?” Peter asked. Wanda smiled. Peter was still a kid and he definitely didn’t deserve to be on the run. 

“You try to get yourself something to do. Watch people. Anything you can do to distract yourself.”

“Like what?” Peter asked.

“Hmm,” Wanda said thinking of something to entertain him. “Did you happen to notice how close Steve and Natasha are?” Wanda replied smiling. A huge grin appeared across Peter’s face. 

“They like each other?”

“Yep,” Wanda said smiling.

“How do you know?” Peter asked suspiciously.

“Easy, I can read minds.” Wanda replied. “Now get some sleep.” Peter smiled before closing his eyes. After a few minutes she could tell he was just laying there listening to the others downstairs. 

“Nice try,” Wanda said. Her eyes flowed red as she entered Peters mind pushing him into a relaxing dream. She was about to leave his mind, when she became curious. Peter knew the risks of being Spider-Man, and yet here he was. With a broken knee and bullet wound. Why would he risk everything. He said he had an aunt. Friends. An entire life ahead of him so why take the chance.

Wanda prodded around his memories trying to find out why. When she came across one. A man. Bleeding out on the street. Peter ran over to him checking his pulse and crying. 

“He was murdered in a car jacking,” one of the nearby officers told him. Wanda watched as Peter rushed to catch him. And when he did, it was the same man he had failed to stop earlier. Wanda could feel the guilt Peter felt as he tied him up for the police. It finally made sense. Guilt. It was such a powerful motivator wasn’t it? She was here because of her guilt after Ultron. Natasha came because of her red ledger, Steve was here because he couldn’t save Bucky. Wanda quickly retreated from Peters mind. Her heart was racing and she was sweating. Her breaths were short and quick.

“Wanda,” Steve called from the doorway. “Are you ok?”

“Yeah yeah, of course.” Wanda lied. She shouldn’t have entered Peter’s mind without his permission. “He woke up so I had to force him asleep. He heard everything we said downstairs.” Steve sighed. 

“I’ll explain it to him when he wakes up.” Wanda nodded as Steve walked away. She looked down at Peter. The poor kid had already been exposed to too much hate and violence. 

“I’m so sorry Peter,” Wanda said before turning to leave the room.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let me know what you think. I will have the next chapter up soon. Who’s perspective should I write the next one in? Hope you enjoyed!


	5. Bookcase Blockade

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Peter wakes up hungry and Wanda is upset. Also I can’t summarize.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you like this chapter. It’s short so sorry but my phone is dying so I can’t write more rn. Let me know what u think!

Peter woke up really hungry. The smell of pancakes lingered in the air around him. Peter jumped out of bed, completely forgetting about his still unhealed knee. Landing on it Peter yelped in pain. He looked down at his knee. It wasn’t as bad as yesterday, but it was still terribly horrendous to look at. Sparing a glance at the other two wounds on his leg, he noticed that the stab wound was almost completely gone. The only remnant was a short cut. The bullet wound hadn’t healed at all, but the area surrounding it was no longer green. Peter sat up as someone could be heard running up the stairs nearby.

“Peter, are you ok?” Wanda asked standing at the doorway. She looked different today. As if some sort of great burden had been put on her shoulders overnight.

“Yeah. I feel better,” Peter responded. “But i’m STARVING!” Wanda laughed.

“I figured with your enhanced metabolism. There’s breakfast downstairs. Come on I’ll help you up,” she said. Red magic quickly encased Peter’s leg. “Try not to put too much pressure on it, but this should keep it stable as long as I can concentrate.”

“Ok,” Peter said happily. Warily he put pressure on his knee, but he didn’t feel any pain. Step by step, he walked down stairs. As he entered the kitchen he saw most of the rogue avengers sitting around the kitchen table. 

“Hi Peter,” Natasha started. “I know you heard everything last night, but we still thought it best to tell you. You’re not going to be able to go home.” Even though he already knew this, Peter still felt a wave of sadness crash over him. 

“I know,” he responded quietly.”

“We’re here for you kid,” Steve said from behind Nat. “ I know we aren’t your parents or anything, but we want you to be safe and happy.” At the mention of his parents Peter inwardly cringed, no one here knew that his parents were dead so it wasn’t their fault. Looking around the room, he noticed that Wanda was shifting uncomfortably.

“Thank you,” Peter said. “My parents are dead by the way.” Everyone turned towards Peter with surprise written across their expression. Everyone but Wanda. She knew something. What did she know. “My uncle too,” everyone looked rather uncomfortable. “I mean it’s not your fault or anything, I just. You know since I’ll be staying, I figured you guys would want to know.”

“I… I have to go.” Wanda said running out of the room. Peter watched her confused. Was it something he said? He was about to run after her, but the red magic had disappeared from around his leg and he crumpled to the ground in pain instead. 

“Wanda!” Steve shouted after her. Two bookcases became encircled by red light as they were thrown to the floor blocking the hallway. 

“Is she ok?” Peter asked concerned.

“I don’t know,” Steve said honestly.

“Peter your bleeding!” Clint yelled from across the room. Looking down, Peter noticed that the bullet wound was now steadily pouring out blood.

“I got him,” Natasha said running towards him. A dish cloth was in her hands and she put pressure against the wound. Peter yelped in pain. Turning his attention elsewhere trying to ignore the pain that consumed his leg, he watched as Steve moved the bookcases back to where they went. After a particularly painful jolt went through his leg Peter turned back towards Natasha. Apparently he wasn’t the only one who was watching Steve. When he finished moving the bookcases, he walked over and scooped Peter into his arms. 

“You need to get back to bed.” He said sternly.

“I’m hungry though.”

“Nat will bring you food, but for now we need to get you back into your room and stitch up your wound.” 

Peter sighed. He knew there was no way he would be able to win this one.

“Fiiiiiiinnnnnneeeee.” Peter moaned. He wanted to eat and find Wanda. Something was off. She wasn’t acting so closed off yesterday. He’d have to figure all this out when he was healed because he was pretty sure he wouldn’t be going anywhere until then. Steve put him down in his bed before grabbing some medical thread and stitching up the wound. He couldn’t take any pain meds because his metabolism burned through them all, so it was a very painful experience. When everything stopped bleeding, Natasha brought up six pancakes and 10 strips of bacon. It was delicious. When Peter began drifting off to sleep, he could of sworn he felt something in his mind. Something felt off, as if someone had taken a look into his most painful memories. Equating it to exhaustion, Peter let himself drift into a much needed restful sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My biology teacher is staring at me bcz I am posting this in her class. I finished my midterm early and decided to post. 97% on my Biology exam! I’m so relieved. So sorry if this sucks cause I wrote it on my phone after a midterm. Yep. I probably should be studying for geometry, but will I, probably not. Wish me luck. Lmk what u think of this chapter and who’s POV I should do next. Should I do a chapter from Tony’s perspective? I will try to update either tonight or tomorrow depending on how long I procrastinate studying for geometry. Thanks!


	6. Calling Tony Stark

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Steve and Tony have a much-needed phone call.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey. I hope you enjoy this chapter! Sorry, it took so long to upload. I had to do midterm stuff and then Christmas, and I'm actually traveling right now. I wrote this in a hotel room in North Carolina. I will try to upload soon after this, it just depends on my travel schedule. Enjoy!

Closing the door Steve walked down the hallway into his room. Taking out a flip phone he took a deep breath. This wasn’t going to be an easy call, but it had to happen. Pacing back and forth, he slowly powered on the phone. A bright white light emitted from the screen. There was one number on it. One contact. Tony Stark.

Last time Steve had talked to Tony, it was after the disaster that was Siberia. Tony had tried to kill him and his best friend. That wasn’t ok. He shouldn’t have kept the nature of his parent’s death a secret, that was for sure. It was something Steve would always regret. But Tony had tried to kill him, and Bucky. It wasn’t something that could be gotten over easily. Steve didn’t hate Tony, but he didn’t exactly trust him either. Taking a deep breath, Steve pressed the call button and put the phone up to his ear.

~

Tony had been searching for Peter for three days. Three days of no sleep, no food, no drinks (other than coffee of course). May was dead. She was killed in an ‘accident’. Ross blamed Spider-Man for a small diner in Queens being destroyed. He published a video two hours ago and the only thing Tony’s been trying to do since then is find out how it was doctored. He had to admit, the video was pretty damning. It showed Spider-Man blowing up a car and reeking havoc through the diner. Coincidently everyone who was nearby the diner died in ‘car accidents’ or ‘gang violence’. But that was bull shit and Tony knew it. The worst part was, Ross probably knew that Peter was Spider-Man even if that wasn’t released to the public. Spider-Man being declared a menace, Peter’s aunt was killed. That’s too many coincidences.

“Sir,” Friday said interrupting his thoughts. “Someone is in the lobby. They claim to have information regarding the disappearance of Mr. Parker.” Tony nearly dropped the coffee mug on the floor.

“On my way,” Tony said stepping into the elevator. The ride to the lobby was only a minute, but to him it felt like days. He paced around the small box fighting off a panic attack. Peter was the closest thing Tony had ever had to a son. He meant what he said after the ferry incident, if anything happened to Peter it was his fault. He gave Peter the suit, encouraged him to be Spider-man, to put himself in harm’s way and protect the little guy.

The elevator doors opened and Tony walked out scanning the room. A girl stood in the corner her arms crossed across her chest. She was reading a book and didn’t look up until he was standing directly in front of her. He recognized her immediately. She was the girl with Peter when he was stabbed.

“Michelle, right?” Tony asked.

“That’s right. We need to talk somewhere private… Now.” She responded leaving no room for argument in her voice. Tony nodded taking her into his private elevator. The two rode in silence until they reached the lab level. Tony walked in tapping the windows, they went white instantly.

“Friday, sweep for bugs.”

“The room is clear boss.”

“Mute the room and clear the floor. Nobody has access to this room other than me, Michelle, Pepper, and Happy.”

“Of course sir,” Friday responded changing the security settings.

“What do you have kid?” Tony asked turning towards Michelle. She’d put her book on a nearby table and began to pull something out of her backpack.

“Well for starters, the undoctored footage from that night.” Michelle said handing Tony a flash drive. Tony paused staring at the girl. He’d been trying to get the raw footage of the event for the last two hours and this girl just walked in with it on a flashdrive. Taking the flashdrive and plugging it into the computer, Tony had to ask.

“Where exactly did you get this?”

“Peter and I were on a date at that diner before it blew up. The beginning of dinner was great. But about halfway through he started acting a little weird.”

“Weird. Weird how?”

“He said he had a sixth sense that alerted him of danger and that it was going crazy. So we left the diner and walked to my car. But before we got there it blew up. We ran into an alley and he told me to run. Then he suited up to you know, do his thing.”

“Right so that explains why you were there but not how you got security footage.”

“I never said it was security footage. You honestly think I would run off while he saved the day? Hell no! I’m not a damn princess. I can take care of myself. I snuck out of the alleyway and shot this on my phone.”

Tony shook his head. He could definitely see why Peter liked her, but none of that explains where Peter was now.

“What happened to Peter.” Tony said trying not to sound desperate. Michelle’s face hardened.

“You need to see the footage first.”

Tony nodded turning back to the screen. He took a couple of deep breaths before moving his mouse over the play button. He was about to hit the button when the familiar sound of a phone ringing played in his ear. He turned around his face going pale. Michelle glanced at him with a worried expression. Friday was programmed to tell him who was calling. There was only one phone in the entire tower that wasn’t connected to the tower. The burner phone Steve sent him after Siberia.

“What is it?” Asked Michelle. A hint of annoyance tinged her voice but Tony ignored it.

“After everything that happened with Cap, he uh… he sent me a burner phone. It’s the only phone Friday isn’t connected to,” Tony responded opening a drawer and pulling out the phone.

A look of panic flashed across Michelle’s face momentarily. She immediately resumed her cold glare, but not fast enough to hide it from him.

“Michelle… what’s wrong?” Michelle gave him an angry look.

“Captain America has Peter,” Michelle said. “He took him at the diner. Peter was hurt. Like really bad. I don’t know what happened after he took him. But they boarded the quinjet and it took off.” Tony looked at the phone nervously. Taking a breath to ground himself Tony answered the phone.

“Steve.”

“Tony.”

Silence passed over the phone line for a few moments.

“Where’s Peter?” Tony finally spat into the phone.

“Safe.”

“Do better.”

“I can’t tell you where we are Tony. You know that.”

Tony took a deep breath.

“Is he ok?”

There was a beat of silence on the other end of the phone.

“He was shot, had a sword driven through his leg, a major concussion, and his knee isn’t in good shape. The bullet wound was infected, but we managed to get it treated. He was in a lot of pain when he woke up the first few times so we had to sedate him. After that, Wanda had to put him under.”

“Yeah regular sedatives don’t really work on…”

“I know. I used the last of mine.”

Tony stopped. He knew Steve only had a couple of sedatives left. As much as he hated Steve, he didn’t deserve to die, or have surgery without going under.

“Thank you.” Tony said finally.

“He can’t go back to New York you know.”

“I’m trying to get his name cleared.”

“I know you are. But for now, if he goes anywhere near there, it’ll end badly.”

Silence.

“I know. Just tell Peter I’m working on it.”

“And tell him I say hi,” Michelle added from the back of the room. She kept up her frosty exterior, but Tony knew this conversation had to be killing her.

“Tony… who was that?”

“Tell him it’s MJ. He’ll know who that is.” Michelle continued.

“You need to tell his aunt…” Steve began but Tony interrupted before he could say anything else.

“His aunt is dead,” Tony said sadly. Michelle’s, MJ’s, head popped up. Apparently this was the first she’d heard of May’s passing.

“What happened?” Steve asked.

“Ross. But the records will say a car accident.”

“Call me when you have something,” Steve said.

“I will. And Steve…” Tony paused. “I’m sorry. For what happened in Siberia.”

“Me too.” Steve said softly.

“Goodbye Tony.”

“Goodbye Steve.”

The line went dead as the call disconnected. Tony looked back at the computer and MJ.

“We need to start working on this now.” He said. MJ nodded.

“I’ll be back tomorrow, until then I’ll see what I can dig up.”

“Sounds good. Friday will print you a pass downstairs. It will give you unlimited access to the building with the exception of the avengers rooms. You should come through the back entrance to avoid suspicion.” Tony responded.

“Goodbye Mr. Stark,” MJ said turning around and leaving the room.

Tony walked back to the computer where the video was on the screen. He ran his hands through his hair, before clicking play and watching what really happened that night. He needed to clear Peter’s name and get rid of Ross.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Anyways, I hope you enjoyed. I want to do a chapter from MJ's POV because I think she's a total badass and can do some great investigating. I was going to do a POV from Wanda or Natasha next though. Let me know who you want next! Obviously, Peter is going to have a hard time when he finds out May is gone. Let me know what you think about this work in general. I will try to update, but as I said, I'm on a trip. So as soon as I can, I will try to get the next chapter up.


	7. All That Was Left...

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> May is dead. Someone has to tell Peter.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey! I hope you enjoy this chapter. It was hard to write in a hotel room with a nosy little brother trying to read what I type line for line and make fun of me for being a complete nerd, but hey that's what brothers are for. Lol. Anyways, enjoy!

Natasha and Steve were downstairs when Peter woke up. He crept quietly down the stairs not wanting to wake the others. The two were sitting at a small table, cups of coffee in hand, talking in hushed voices about something. It had been about four days since the rogue avengers had rescued him. He was almost completely healed with the exception of some soreness around his knee. Listening in to the conversation Peter’s interest peaked.

“Steve, we have to tell him. This is the same mistake that led to Siberia.” Natasha said. Steve instantly tensed. “He needs to know. Someone has to tell him.”

“I know nat, I know. I agree that we can’t keep this from him. But Wanda suggested waiting until he was healed before dropping such an impactful thing on him. I’ll talk to her today. Maybe she’ll agree. I just… I don’t know what to do.” 

“I know. But I’m here for you. You won’t have to go do this alone. Neither will Peter. Neither of you deserves what’s happened to you but these are the card we’ve been given. We just have to do our best with what we’ve got.”

Steve nodded a sad look on his face. He got up taking his and Nat’s now empty cups and putting them in the dishwasher. He walked back over to the table and stopped next to Natasha’s. He stood there for a moment staring at her. Nat looked into his eyes showing a vulnerability Peter never thought would be in her eyes. They stayed there like that for a moment before Steve broke away from her gaze. 

“I’m going out for my run,” He said walking over to the door and stepping out. 

Natasha sighed for a moment staring into the distance before tensing up completely.

“Hi Peter,” She said standing and walking to the kitchen. “How’d you sleep?”

“How’d you know it was me?” Peter said surprised. Natasha looked over at him, her eyebrows raised. Peter turned red. Of course, she knew it was him. She was the fucking Black Widow. “Never mind.” He said sheepishly. He desperately wanted to know what was going on. She and Steve were obviously keeping something from him. Actually, it sounded like most of the team was. But he had no idea what could be so important. Last time they wanted to keep something from him, it was that he couldn’t go home. He couldn’t say bye to Ned or to MJ. Mr. Stark didn’t know what had happened. 

And May. 

Oh god. 

She was probably worried sick. All Peter wanted to do was give her a big hug. He wanted her to tell him everything would be alright and that no matter what happened they had each other. He wanted to breathe in the strawberry perfume she always used while they sat on the couch curled up watching Star Wars for the gazillionth time. He wanted to come home to a kitchen full of smoke with May in the center laughing. She’d explain that the recipe she tried was a bust and Thai or Pizza would be the main course. 

Sighing Peter walked over to the fridge. He took out a box of apple juice and sat across the table from Natasha. A few minutes later, Sam and Scott walked downstairs. Scott looked like he’d just rolled out of bed in his ant-man pajamas. Sam was wearing a dark blue bathrobe and bunny slippers. Peter had to stifle a laugh at two of the Avengers looking like two-year-olds. 

“What you need a juice box now?” Sam said rubbing his eyes tiredly.

“Sorry bunny slippers. I was thirsty.”

Sam rolled his eyes pulling a pop tart out of the pantry.

“Hey,” Scott said flustered. “No pop tarts for breakfast.”

“I don’t know if you noticed Scott, but I’m not your daughter,” Sam said biting into the desert.

“I’d hope not you are missing some vital parts to be anyone’s daughter,” Scott replied.

“That’s enough tic tac. I’m eating what I want,” Sam replied taking another bite. Scott sighed walking over to the table. 

“Hey Nat, we’re out of milk,” Scott said opening the fridge. 

“And…” Natasha said not even looking up from the newspaper she’d grabbed from the table.

“And can you get some?”

“I most certainly can. But I won’t.” Natasha replied.

“Ok…” Scott said hesitating. “Is there a reason why?”

“You have legs don’t you?”

“Yes…”

“And you know how to use cash?” 

“Yeah…”

“Then you should be able to find the answer,” Natasha said smiling. Scott rolled his eyes while Sam and Peter laughed uncontrollably. “Where is Clint?” Natasha asked looking over at Peter. Focusing, Peter listened for Clint’s voice. He sounded breathless and at first, Peter was very confused before hearing him compliment his wife. His entire being turned red with embarrassment. Natasha seemed to have caught on and started laughing. 

“Sorry, Peter. I didn't know that’s what they were up too.” She said smirking.

Scott and Sam looked at each other confused. 

“I will never unhear that,” Peter said disturbing.

Sam laughed while Scott just seemed even more dumbfounded. Peter smiled and shook his head. 

The group sat there for a while until Steve came back. He immediately went upstairs to shower and change. About an hour later, he, Clint, Laura, and a distraught looking Wanda came down the stairs. An eerie quiet fell over the room. Sam’s smiling face turned to one of sorrow and sadness. Scott went from very confused, to understanding and upset. And Natasha, well she looked the same as before. Her features never giving away her true emotion. But Peter could feel the waves of grief radiating from her. This was not a good sign.

“What’s going on?” Peter asked worriedly. He could feel the gravity of the situation but he didn’t want to admit it. The last time people had looked at him that way was when Uncle Ben… No that couldn’t be happening. That couldn’t be what this was. As if knowing what he was thinking, Wanda slouched back, a sad look spreading over her face.

“Peter,” Steve said looking over at him with a grim expression on his face.

“No,” Peter said trying to fight the tears coming to his eyes. “No. No, no, no, no, no! This cannot be happening to me AGAIN! She can’t be gone! She can’t she was just there she was alive and and…” He cut off tears streaming down his face. His parents died when he was young, then Ben. Right in front of him. He bled out on the sidewalk and Peter couldn’t do anything. May was all he had left. She was it. The only person who was always there. Peter hadn’t even noticed Natasha and Steve coming by his side. Natasha had her arms wrapped around his shoulders and Steve leaned into them both.

“Peter, I’m so sorry,” Steve said. But Peter didn’t hear him. Everything was a blur coming in and out of focus. In the distance, he thought he heard someone screaming before realizing that the terrible screech was coming from him. He didn’t even know what to do with himself.

“We’re here for you Peter,” Nat said running her hand through his hair. It reminded him of what May would do when he woke up from a nightmare. He couldn’t respond so he just nodded numbly before walking into his room and collapsing onto his mattress. He cried for what seemed like an eternity before drifting off into a restless sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What'd you think? Hope you enjoyed the chapter. Peter is definitely going through a rough time, but hopefully, things get better for him! (It depends on what mood I'm in when I wrote the next chapter. Let me know what you think in the comments and anything you might want to see in the future. I'm driving back home tomorrow so I may be able to write a chapter then, it just depends. Yep, eight hours in the car... fun. At least I get to spend 90% of it watching Marvel movies or reading other fics! Oh, wait that's me on any given day. Lol. I walked into this bookstore yesterday and the cashier and I got into a full on conversation about Marvel and I was dying of excitement because that literally never happens. Anyways no one wants to hear my life's story. I guess the point of this was just to say that I will try to update soon. :) Bye!


	8. Confessions and Secrets

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Wanda opens up to Natasha and Steve.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi. I hope you enjoy. Sorry this chapter is a little short.

  
Wanda watched sadly as Peter walked off to his room. Tears were streaming down his cheeks and she understood why. Peter had lost everyone, she had seen it when she went into his head. She still regretted that. She shouldn’t have delved into his thoughts without permission. But what’s done is done. Lately, she’d just been avoiding him in hopes that it would never come up. As the door slammed upstairs, Wanda let herself drift towards his mind. Not enough to read Peter’s thoughts, but enough to feel his emotions.  
A familiar heaviness descended on her. The crushing feeling of everyone you love being dead. She remembered the feeling all to well. She still felt it some days, but it hadn’t been this heavy since Sokovia when the telekinetic bond between them was severed and he died. A stray tear fell down her cheek and she wiped away quickly hope my no one would notice.  
“Are you ok?” Natasha asked walking over to her. Wanda closed her eyes tight pulling the super spy into a big hug. Natasha tensed momentarily before hugging her back.  
“I don’t know what to do,” Wanda cried sobbing. Steve gave a quick glance to the others and they quickly left the room.  
“What’s wrong,” Steve said softly sitting down at the table. He gestured for them to join him. Soon they were all sitting around the table. Wanda took a few stabilizing breaths before explaining what she had done. How she had violated Peter’s privacy by reading his mind. How she had seen how much he’d lost and how each death felt. How she’d watched as Peter saw his uncle bleed out on the sidewalk before becoming Spidey for the first time. The entire time, she tried to gauge their reactions. But the spy’s face was a stone and the soldier’s was unreadable.  
“I don’t know what to do,” she finished. Steve shifted in his chair. Moving to meet her gaze his demeanor softened.  
“First off, we’re not mad at you. But it wasn’t a good idea to look in his mind. What happened?”  
“I was getting him to sleep and I saw something in his mind. I wanted to investigate. I was curious and I broke his trust. I shouldn’t have I know I shouldn’t have but… I just couldn’t leave it be,” she said softly. Natasha put a hand on her shoulder.  
“We’ve all done things we regret. Us more than most. But what happened in the past is done. You can’t change it. As much as you want to. What matters now is what you do to amend things.”  
“I… I… it’s not the same. You’ve never invaded someone else’s mind. It’s different.”  
“Haven’t I? What about when I torture people for information? You don’t know what I did in the red room. I killed. I stole. I tortured. One man had intelligence regarding the whereabouts of a US ambassador. So I took his eye from his skull and mangled his arm beyond repair. I’m sure if he was still alive, you’d be able to see the scars over each bone of his spine. When he didn’t budge…” Natasha paused staring at the wall momentarily staring at the wall. “Lets just say invading someone’s mind is something I have experience with.” She said finally.  
“What do I do?” Wanda asked quietly.  
“That’s up to you,” Steve said softly. “But I know how harmful a secret can be and my recommendation is just to avoid them all together.”  
Wanda nodded before giving Steve and Natasha a hug and heading up to her room.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What’d you think? Sorry this chapter is so short it’s been a long few days. The 8 hour drive ended up being 13 hours. Fun. Anyways, I will try to update soon. Until then, let me know your thoughts or suggestions. Happy new year!!


	9. Journalism 101

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> MJ digs up info on Ross.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you enjoy the chapter!

As MJ walked back home from Stark Tower she felt really worried. Aunt May was the last family Peter had. Without her, MJ wasn’t exactly sure what would happen to him. When his Uncle Ben died, he’d gone to a dark place. They weren’t exactly close friends at the time, but she was a very observant person. He shut down for days. Not even Ned and Liz could get through to him. After a while he seemed better. But he wasn’t ever the same really. Then came the internship, the skipping practices, and always being late. They’d grown closer over the last year and when she’d found out he was spiderman, it made sense. 

Swallowing her nerve and hoping for the best she’d kissed him. And it was going pretty well. Until he got nearly killed on their first date. Sighing, MJ focused on the task at hand. She needed to get dirt on Ross. All politicians were dirty. Plus it wasn’t her first time taking on a government official. She ran an investigative journalism site that exposed ambassador Carla Mithrin for embezzlement. All it took was a trip to the UN. And that was exactly where she was headed now.

Stepping into the subway car MJ opened her bag and sifted through her things. She had her notepad and a couple of pens, her phone, and most importantly her tape recorder. It was specially modified specifically to record things at long range. MJ pulled her hoodie over her head and pulled out her phone. She encrypted the communications and pulled up a chat with Tony.

 

MJ: Hey. Will Ross be at the UN today?

BGPP: I think so. Why???

MJ: No reason.

BGPP: Michelle, what are you planning?

MJ: Its MJ not Michelle.

BGPP: F I N E. MJ what are you planning?

MJ: Tell you later.

BGPP: Be careful.

MJ: F*ck you.

 

As the train rolled to a stop, MJ stepped off and walked towards the UN building. She walked over to a tree outside and the recorder. Turning it on she put on her hat and sunglasses, not a great disguise, but enough to fool facial recognition. She pulled out her book bag and pretended to read. Really she was listening to the conversations different people were having. She waited for hours getting some good dirt on a number of ambassadors (she’d definitely be writing a number of stories when this was all over) but nothing on the man she loathed. Sighing MJ took out an apple and began eating. Unfortunately, this was part of her job. Hunting down stories and leads. Her anonymous blog was considered a reliable source by many news networks around the country. As long as no one ever found out it was written by a 17 year old girl, she’d be fine.

Turning her thoughts back to Peter she wondered how he was doing. May was a big part of his life and he didn’t even get to go to the funeral. After everything that had happened to him, losing his parents and his uncle Ben, she thought maybe the universe would give him a pass. He was Spider-man for fucks sake. He spent every hour he could helping people. Saving lives. But the world was unfair. That was something MJ learned the hard way. Sighing, MJ began packing her books and pulling her backpack closed when she heard a loud voice. Ross was walking down the steps with a group of politicians. Perfect. Grabbing her phone MJ walked over to towards Ross before ‘accidentally’ running into him. Smiling to herself, MJ began to walk away. A hand came to rest on her shoulder before she could. 

“What are you doing here?” Ross asked. Damnit.

“I was just doing some homework over there,” MJ responded pointing to the tree she’d been sitting under earlier.

“Why might you be doing homework in front of the UN building?”

MJ panicked for a second. What the hell was she supposed to do. She ran through a million different scenarios on how this confrontation could end, and none of them ended well. She quickly came up with the first lie she could spit out.

“It gives me inspiration. I want to work here someday. Get important things done.”

“Ok then miss. Have a good night.” Ross said suspicion painting his features. Nodding MJ raced home. When she came into the room Her mom yelled at her for missing curfew and her mom’s boyfriend Shane threw a beer bottle at her her head. It shattered on the wall next to her and MJ quickly raced to her room not wanting any other incidents. She locked the door and sighed before going to her computer. She plugged in her phone and waited as all the data she collected uploaded. As the information on Ross’ phone came onto her screen, MJ smiled. He was so screwed. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What'd you think? Let me know in the comments! Have a great day.
> 
> Also yes I changed the chapter. When I wrote it originally I wasn't in a great headspace. I had some stuff going on in my personal life that bled into the story. I apologize for letting my personal issues bleed into the story, however, it has been changed and I agree it is much better this way. Thank you all for your support. I am probably going to start updating more often now since my family flew home after Christmas. Next chapter will be back at the safe house.


	10. Time to Move

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The rogue avengers move to a new location and Wanda talked to Peter.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi. Hope you enjoy this chapter!

It had been two weeks since Peter had found out about his aunt May’s death and Wanda had hardly seen him emerge from his room. He came out every morning around 3 am to grab food and then he returned to his room. He webbed the door closed after that and while every hero could get in, they thought it best to leave him be. That wasn’t an option any more. 

Scott had been sent to the market to buy the food for the week and he made a scene when some asshole jumped in front of him at the checkout line. Clearly he missed the going into hiding 101 class. Someone videotaped the whole thing and posted it to youtube. Long story short the group of rogues needed to change locations asap. Sam, Scott, Cassie, and the Bartons all left for the safehouse an hour ago leaving Natasha, Steve, Wanda, and Peter to pack the rest of their things and get on the quinjet. In other words, Peter needed to leave his bedroom and soon.

Wanda went up to the handle and knocked on the door. She knew Peter was probably not going to answer, but it didn’t hurt. When she was met only with silence, Wanda sighed letting her hands glow red and moving the webbing off the door. She then pushed it open and entered the room. Peter sat on his bed back to her as silent sobs wracked his body. 

“Peter,” She said approaching the bed. He looked up at her with red eyes. He looked as if he hadn’t slept in days. Her heart broke at how devastated he seemed. She sat down next to him on the bed and put her hand on his shoulder. To her surprise, he sat up and gave her a huge hug. He buried his head into her neck and sobbed. After the initial shock wore off, she hugged him back wrapping her arms around him as he cried. 

“I’m so sorry Peter,” She said. It came out a lot softer than she meant, but Peter heard it anyways and sighed.

“You don’t understand. I lost everyone. I don’t even have anyone to talk to.”

“Of course you do. You have me, Steve, Nat. We’re all here for you.” Wanda said trying to comfort him. Peter shook his head. 

“You don’t know what I’ve been through. With everything that’s happened, I thought I was done with loss.”

“I do know,” Wanda said. When Peter gave her a confused look she took a deep breath and confessed. “I read your mind when you first got here. I know about your parents and your uncle. The overwhelming guilt you feel because you couldn’t save them. I don’t even have to reach out to you telepathically to know how that feels. I’ve lived it. With my parents and then with Pietro. But you're stronger than me. I let the guilt and grief consume me. I helped an AI to destroy the world in order to kill one man. You never did. You became Spider-Man to help people. To make sure the same things that happened to you didn’t happen to anyone else. You weren’t selfish or stupid like I was. You are strong. I know you can get through this. It hurts and it sucks. But we’re here for you.”

Peter looked up at Wanda, an unreadable expression on his face.

“I’m sorry I looked in your head. I had no right to do that,” Wanda said guiltily. Honestly this moment was crushing her. She didn’t want Peter to be mad at her. But hiding the truth can be uglier than telling it. And she didn’t want to make any more bad decisions. 

“It’s ok,” Peter responded. “Kind of cool actually. I always thought you were really cool.”

Relief flooded over Wanda. He wasn’t mad anymore. Everything was going to be ok.

“Thank you,” Wanda said pulling Peter into an embrace. 

“Yeah of course,” Peter said. A smile ghosted across his features. It was small, short, and barely noticeable, but it was the first smile Peter had worn in a while.

“So I’m really sorry, but we need to go. Scott blew our cover so we’re changing to a new location.”

“Ok. I don’t really have anything to pack so I guess we can go. Is everyone coming?” 

“No, Nat and Steve are packing everything up and disposing of some evidence, but everyone else left this morning.”

“So it’ll be just us, Nat, and Steve together in the jet?” Peter asked. Wanda could feel the mischievous waves coming off of Peter.

“Yes why? What are you planning?” 

Peter smiled. And this time it stayed on for more than a couple of seconds.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What'd you think? I am really looking forward to writing the next chapter of this story so I can't wait. Let me know any suggestions for future chapters. Thanks!


	11. Sparring

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Steve, Natasha, Wanda, and Peter leave on the quinjet. Wanda and Peter set their plans into motion.

Natasha counted her knives as she and Steve waited for Wanda and Peter to get on the jet. She’d already counted the collection at least six times, but one could never be too careful. She started tapping her foot on the floor waiting for the pair to walk into the hangar. Normally she wasn’t so impatient. But being on the run was hard even by herself. Add two mopey teens and a 100 year old american hero and things got even more stressful. Getting up, she walked over to where steve was in the cockpit and sat down next to him. He was checking their flight path for the millionth time. Natasha smiled to herself. Apparently she had taught him something after a year on the run. 

“You ok?” She asked putting a hand on his shoulder. He was tense at first but eventually relaxed into her touch. 

“Fine. Just tired of…” He trailed off. But she didn’t need to hear it she already knew. Tired of running. Tired of looking over their shoulder. Tired of not being able to stay in one place or have a feeling of normalcy. She wished for the same thing.

“Do you think they’re ok?” Steve asked gesturing towards the open hangar door.

“We’re fine,” Wanda said walking in. Peter was next to her and he seemed better than he’d been for the last two weeks. Something wasn’t right. Peter’s left hand kept thumping against his left thigh. He was nervous about something. Wanda was better at being subtle about it, but her eyes betrayed her. They darted around the room not landing on Steve or herself. Everything about them spelled mischief.

“What are you two up to?” Natasha asked staring down at the two. Peter’s spine immediately straightened at the question.

“Uhh… nothing nothing.” 

Wanda shot him a dirty look that was meant to be discreet but was actually painfully obvious. They were planning something. Natasha glared at the pair for a few seconds before turning on her heel and walking over to the hangar door. She closed it with ease before walking back to Steve and sitting down in a copilots chair. Wanda and Peter sat in the back of the jet whispering quietly about something. Sighing she just sat back in the jet and closed her eyes. The flight to the new safe house was 12 hours away. Because they were on the run it was important to cover their tracks. They’d fly two hours over US airspace before flying over Siberia for another four. Then they cut through Japan before sending a decoy drone back to America. Finally they’d head back to the UK and stay in England. The drone would continue its journey for another twelve hours before landing in the Pacific Ocean and frying its systems and data. Long story short, it was going to be a long flight.

Looking back down at the small safehouse as they took of, Natasha felt a momentary pang of sadness. This was where they’d lived for the last six months. Being on the run meant never settling, but the safe house in Bolivia was the closest they’d come. There was no use now. She’d never be able to return here. Steve glanced over at her and immediately noticed her wandering mind.

“Nat, you ok?”

“Fine.”

Apparently that answer wasn’t good enough for Steve because he turned around set the jet to autopilot and then pulled her into a private room away from the two kids in the back.

“You know Peter can still hear us and Wanda will just reach out telepathically right? We’re not getting privacy on this plane.”

“What’s wrong Nat?” Steve asked

“Nothing,” Nat lied. She wanted to tell Steve everything. How she felt about leaving. How she hated settling and moving. When she was with the red room or shield that never happened. She was always moving and changing assignments and personalities. But she couldn’t tell him about her past. And she couldn’t tell him that she liked him. She still wouldn’t say love. That word had too much power. Whatever. The point was Steve couldn’t know how she felt.

“Are you sure? You know I’m here for you right?”

“Yeah Steve, I know. But I’m fine, I swear.”

Steve continued to stare at her, his beautiful blue eyes staring into hers.

“Ok,” Steve said finally breaking the eye contact. Suddenly there was a loud crash and the lights on the ship flickered on and off. The two raced over to the door only to find out they couldn’t open it.

“Are you guys ok?” Steve shouted through the door while Natasha looked for an air vent. 

“We’re fine,” they heard Peter about through the door. 

“What happened?” Nat asked.

“Peter and I were messing around and we accidentally dropped all the boxes in front of the door,” Wanda responded.

Steve sighed and shook his head. “You accidentally dropped all the boxes that were on the other side of the quinjet behind a locked door in front of the only way out of the room.” Steve said skeptically.

“Yes.” Came Peter and Wanda’s over eager reply. 

“Can you guys move them?” Natasha asked annoyed.

“No.”

“What about your powers Wanda?” There was a quiet scuffling behind the door.

“I can’t?.”

“Why not?” 

“Because umm… I’m really tired. Yeah and the boxes are heavy and I don’t want to use my powers if I don’t have to.”

Natasha rolled her eyes. “You’re a terrible liar. Almost as bad as Steve was.”

“Hey!” Steve interjected. “I wasn’t that bad.”

“Due to your terrible lying we were on the run from shield because they knew you were hiding something.”

“... ok fine but I’m better at it now.”

“Sure you are.” Natasha said smiling.

“I’ll start moving them but I have to do it one by one so who knows how long it will take,” Peter said.

“Ok we’ll wait in here I guess,” Steve said walking over to the other side of the room.

Natasha sighed shaking her head.

“Well what now?”

“I don’t know.” Natasha nodded and walked over to the weapons cache on the other side of the room. Looking over some of her knives, she realized the tips had gone dull.

“Do you want to spar?” She asked tossing the knife over to him.

“Why not?” 

The two took their stances circling around each other. Steve moved first aiming for a strike to the shoulder which Nat quickly dodged before retaliating with a kick aimed for the chest. Steve dodged before moving to hit again. They sparred like that for a little while. To anyone else it would have looked like a well choreographed routine. The dance ended quickly when Steve managed to get the upper hand and pinned Natasha to the floor. 

“I win,” Steve said breathing heavily. Nat smiled up at him before taking his legs out from under him and flipping positions. 

“Still think so?” She asked smirking. Their hot breaths mingled in the air. Before either of them knew what was happening, their lips were crashing against each other. They stayed like that for a while, just letting years of pent up feelings be said through a single kiss. When they finally broke apart, they just sat there, Natasha on top of Steve panting heavily. Just then the door began to creak open. Wanda and Peter stood in the doorway staring at the two of them on top of each other.

“Ummmm…” Peter began. He and Wanda slowly walked back out the door closing it behind them. 

“I thought you said it was ok to go in!” Steve and Nat heard Peter whisper behind the door. 

“I didn’t think they’d be like that! I never saw it when I surveyed their minds!”

Steve and Nat laughed walking out the door. They were almost to the new safe house.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Soooooooo... I'm alive. I'm so sorry it's been so long since I updated. School has been insane the last couple of weeks and softball is starting up. Plus science fair is next weekend so I have had zero sleep. Anyways I will try to keep the updates more consistent from now on. I was thinking about doing the next chapter from MJ's perspective. Any thoughts? I hope you enjoyed this chapter because it was kind of hard to write. The characters were a little OOC in my opinion, but not as bad as the original chapter I had planned so yeah. Anyways, leave any suggestions in the comments and I'll try to update soon.


	12. Ross' Files

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> MJ and Tony go through the files on Ross' phone.

MJ was vigilant as she walked up to Stark Tower. Even though she was very careful on collecting dirt on Ross, it was always good to be observant. It had gotten her out of some pretty serious situations before. Walking up to the elevator she took out the pass Tony had printed her and walked in. Taking the elevator to his private floor she entered the room quietly watching as the inventor fiddled with something at his desk. Music was blasting at full volume and it was giving her a headache. 

“Can you turn down the music?” she asked dropping her backpack by a table and pulling out her laptop. Tony laughed as he put the finishing touches on his design. 

“Friday mute and lockdown the floor,” He said putting down his tools. Walking over to Michelle, he looked over at her screen. 

“What is that?” He asked staring at a bunch of documents she was scrolling through. 

“After yesterday I went over to the UN building and “accidentally” bumped into Ross. I cloned his phone so if you can make it passed the encryption then we’ll know every dirty secret he has to hide.” 

“YOU WHAT!?” Tony screamed.

“I cloned his phone.”

“That was completely dangerous what if he’d caught you!”

“He didn’t. Plus you're not one to lecture me on dangerous activities. Iron Man.” She said dryly. Passing over her laptop she gave Tony the data and let him get to work. She knew that passing the encryption would take a while. But it would be worth it. She was no hacker but what she was able to get off the phone was incriminating. The least she could do was nail him on tax evasion. Hopefully the more secure files held something a little more damaging. Something that she and Tony could use to bring Ross to his knees and clear Peter’s name. After what seemed like hours, Tony finally broke through the last firewall. 

“Got it,” he said clicking through the files. 

“Finally,” MJ said taking the computer from Tony’s lap.

“Hey!” he protested but MJ cut him off.

“There are plans for enhanced human testing facilities in here.”

“What?”

“Yeah. It looks like anyone arrested under the accords is sent to the Raft. There’s an entirely separate level there for human experimentation. It’s not on any of the official blueprints for the prison.”

An immense sense of guilt flooded Tony’s senses. The raft was where all of the former avengers were sent after the airport.

“Was everyone sent to the Raft experimented on?” Tony asked dreading the answer. Michelle nodded.

“Yes. I think he proposed the accords because he needed a reason to legally arrest enhanced individuals without making it seem suspicious. It looks like the raft was specifically built for that reason. It’s probably why he framed Peter.”

Tony closed his eyes in shame. He’d sent his team mates, his friends, to a prison that treated them like lab rats rather than people. It was his fault that Peter was in danger. His fault that May was dead. Why had he even supported the accords? Maybe because of the guilt of what happened with Ultron. Maybe because of the fear he’d had since Wanda had given him that vision. Whatever the reason he just accepted it blindly. He hadn’t looked at it carefully or processed what it really meant. Now Peter was paying the price.

“We need to set up a meeting with Ross.” MJ said shaking Tony from his thoughts.

“What? Why?”

“I have this website, this blog I guess you could call it. I can threaten to expose all his illegal operations on there, he’d have no choice but to comply.” She stated simply as she saved all the files to a flash drive before deleting them from her computer.

“Thats too dangerous. He’ll know who you are and go after you.”

“I use a pen name. And he won’t see my face during the meeting. We can make it a virtual call if that make you more comfortable.”

“A pen name?” Tony asked in disbelief. He liked MJ, but any blog under a pen name wouldn’t have a good enough rep to take down a large political figure like Ross.

“Remember Senator Brown?” She said shutting down her computer. 

“That was you?” Tony asked. He didn’t really believe that. What could a 17 year old girl do to bring down the senator of new york?

“Yep. I’ll be back tomorrow. Set up the meeting for 2pm. Don’t worry, I’ve done this before.” She said grabbing her bag and walking out the door. Tony sighed before pulling out his phone. The dial tone sounded a few times before the call was finally put through.

“I’d like to speak to Secretary Ross.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi. Wow it has been a long time. So I feel like I should explain. When school started back up for me in January I was swamped with work. Science fair was in a month and I still hadn't started experimentation, math was actually starting to become challenging, and I got a new AP Human Geography teacher. So in the first semester we only covered four chapters of the textbook, out of fourteen. Needless to say, this teacher had a lot to do before the AP test which is coming up in May. She assigned all of the notes to do at home as well as vocab (which we'd never done in that class before) and projects. We had new assignments basically everyday and in the last three months have covered chapters 5-10. In other words, I have been doing homework every night until like 3 am. Plus as I mentioned earlier, Science fair was a huge time filler. I ended up staying at school until like 7pm every night. AND my speech competition was in the beginning of march so I had to write, edit, and memorize that. I also take voice lessons and had a competition where I was to memorize and perform four solos. Not to mention Softball season started meaning practice everyday until 5:30. Games three times a week. I was also promoted to President of Spanish Club which is great... except for the fact that the previous president was an imbecile who didn't have anything organized and then just stopped showing up to the meetings. So I had to go back and organize everything and set up a fundraiser with other clubs around the school so we could have enough funds to go on the yearly field trip. Did I mention I also got walking pneumonia and was at home sick for a week? Also I adopted a bearded dragon named Bucky. So yeah. My life had been completely crazy and in all of that I haven't had much free time. So sorry again this update took so long but... I didn't really have any chance to update sooner. Updates from now on will probably be more sporadic depending on school and stuff but I will do my best to update weekly. Anyways I hope you enjoyed this chapter. It wasn't really my best work but hopefully the next chapter will be better. Please let me know what you think! Thanks.


	13. Time to Wait

It had been two days since the rogue avengers had been forced to move to a new safe house, and everyone seemed to be adjusting well. They had all settled in a nice cabin completely secluded from the rest of the world. After the events on the quinjet, Steve and Natasha had become inseparable. They were always by each others sides. They seemed to know what the other was thinking without having to say a word. Clint and the entire Barton family was elated when they found out. 

“I knew it!” Clint shouted before getting hit on the back of the head by his wife. Laura laughed before congratulating the new couple. The kids were really happy that Auntie Nat and Uncle Steve were together too. Although that was mainly because now there were enough rooms in the house that no one had to share. Sam smiled when he found out.

“About damn time,” He’d said smiling. 

“You’re saying you called this?”

“You mean after the two of you showed up at my doorstep in DC all lovey dovey with each other? Yeah.” Steve stuttered turning red at Sam’s reply while Natasha had rolled her eyes. 

“You’re exaggerating Wilson.” She’d said.

“Is that why you guys were ok sharing a bedroom?”

At that the protests were exclaimed loudly. ‘We didn’t sleep the night!’ ‘You didn’t have another guest room!’ ‘We wanted to make sure we were close in case we needed to bolt!’ 

“Keep telling yourselves that,” Sam said chuckling. 

Scott seemed shocked when they’d told him the news. Cassie was happy though. Her innocence shining brightly as she asked questions the couple wasn’t sure how to answer to the young girl.

“Does that mean you’ll share a room like daddy and Hope?” She asked excitedly.

Natasha and Steve laughed amused before answering.

“Probably,” Natasha said. “Steve needs practice.”

“Practice doing what?”

“Ummm…”

“Why do grown-ups share rooms anyways?”

“Ummm…” 

“Let’s leave Steve and Natasha alone now. Ok Peanut?” Scott said panicking. There was no way in hell he was ready for that talk.

Steve and Natasha laughed before moving into their bedroom together. They were stuck together like glue. That’s why when Wanda made her way downstairs she wasn’t surprised to see that Steve and Natasha were already awake. Breakfast was cooking on the small gas stove while the couple sat discussing something in quiet whispers. On hearing the girl descend the stairs, both of them froze.

“What were you guys talking about?” Wanda asked curiously. 

“It was nothing,” Steve said too quickly. Wanda shot him a disbelieving look, while Natasha smiled amused.

“How you haven’t gotten us caught yet I’ll never know,” She said teasingly. Wanda laughed as Steve gasped in mock offense.

“I’ll have you know we were on the run for four weeks without you. And we managed to evade the authorities.”

“And in those four weeks I managed to track you down, follow you, learn about everything that had happened after I left, and saved your sorry ass from one or two people you didn’t even notice were tailing you.” She said smiling. Steve chuckled but Wanda just shook her head.

“Seriously,” Wanda said. “Was there any update from Stark?” 

“Maybe. Peter’s girlfriend managed to get something off Ross. They had a meeting with him a while ago but I haven’t gotten anything from them since. I guess they’re working out all the kinks. It’s still going to take a while.” Wanda nodded sadly. That was more or less the news she’d expected. 

“So what now?” She asked quietly.

“Not a lot we can do. We just have to wait for Stark to come through. Hopefully he will.” Steve said.

“You know I don’t trust him. How do we know this isn’t an elaborate trap?” Wanda asked. The question had been gnawing at the back of her mind.

“I don’t think we have much of a choice. When all this is settled, I don’t think we’ll be pardoned. There’s too much at stake politically for the government to admit to a mistake this large. However, Peter might be able to go home. If that's the case, then one or two of us will go to drop him. Everyone else will remain hidden and safe.”

Wanda nodded. It made sense. She didn’t exactly like it, but the plan would have to do for now. 

All that was left to do was wait.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you enjoyed! Softball season just ended for me so I should be able to start updating more regularly soon. Let me know what you think or if you have any ideas for upcoming chapters.


	14. The General's Payments

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> MJ uncovers the evidence of a scandal.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi! Time for an update. I hope you enjoy the chapter.

The meeting with Ross had gone smoothly and now all that was left to do was wait. MJ and Tony had demanded Peter’s pardon, along with the rest of the rogue avengers. It was a long shot, but given how much dirt they had on Ross it wasn’t entirely out of the picture. For now, the two sat in the tower watching a movie. MJ had told her mom that she was staying over at a friend’s house. Not that her mom actually carted where she was. Sighing she threw another piece of popcorn in her mouth. She really missed Peter. Things had just been getting started between them and now he was a fugitive orphan. Hopefully, all of that would change, but it wasn’t a lot of comfort at the moment. Dipping her hand back into the bowl, she realized that she was out of popcorn. 

Standing up she padded over to the small kitchen and popped some more. When she returned, Tony was flipping through some documents not paying attention at all to whatever was on the screen. He looked up when she entered the room. 

“Your out of M&M’s,” MJ said dryly plopping back down on the couch. 

“Friday make a note of that,” Tony said putting down the papers. Grabbing the remote he paused the movie. “I’m going upstairs to my lab.” He announced gathering his things and making his way towards the elevator. MJ nodded as he passed before returning her attention to the screen. The movie was Empire Strikes Back. One of the Star Wars movies that Peter loves. He was always nerding out with Ned about that kind of stuff. He played with LEGOs, read comic books, watched Star Wars. And in his free time, swung through the streets clad in red and blue saving people because he felt responsible. It wasn’t fair that he’d been targeted. 

Realizing that she wasn’t going to pay attention to the movie, Michelle decided to work. She grabbed her laptop from her bag and logged in. Sorting through all of her files, MJ looked through everything she had from her last trip to the UN building. Listening to a couple of conversations, nothing seemed interesting. Ambassador Greg Bevel went home early for his son’s birthday. Ambassador Helen Franks was off for the week so she could visit her granddaughter. Overall, nothing groundbreaking to cover. Looking up at the clock and realizing how late it was MJ resolved to listen to one more audio clip before going to bed.

The clip started with nothing at first. Some leaves rustled in the background but that was it. But the silence didn’t last long. General Bard could be heard clearly talking to someone on the phone. 

“Look, just get her to sign it and we don’t have to worry about anything… I realize we can’t force her but there’s gotta be something… Look I got some money saved up on an offshore account. I’ll transfer 100 grand and we’ll be good right?... No, my wife doesn’t know… Well, I actually still want to have a marriage. I’m not letting my night with Ms. Finn ruin that… Ok, let me know. I don’t want to have to resort to more violent methods… Goodbye Mr. Guin.”

MJ smiled to herself. Perfect. She loved doing this. People with power often thought that they could do whatever and whoever they wanted with no consequences. They abused their power and shamed their country in the process. But they never cared. Bringing down scumbags like General Bard always made her happy. It was the closest to justice you could get in a cruel and unfair world. After hours of more research and hard work, her article was finally done. Uploading it to her website, MJ congratulated herself on another asshole politician being exposed by her. A teenage girl. Who still attended high school. 

Looking at the time, she realized it was way too late to do anything else. Closing down her laptop, she thought she could hear a small sound. Similar to that of a clock. But something was off. Focusing on the faint sound, MJ tried to settle her queasy stomach. Where had she heard that sound before? Tick, tick, tick. The realization of what the sound was dawned on her. Right before an explosion rocked the tower. Engulfing the world in a faint smell of smoke and overwhelming darkness.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> BOOM!!! What'd you think? I know I'm evil for leaving it at a cliff hanger but hopefully, that will just inspire me to post the next chapter sooner. Soooo... have you guys seen Endgame? Because I did and it broke my heart. It was one of the best movies I have ever seen! I have already seen it four times! Anyways, I should probably study for my AP test that is coming up on Tuesday. But I will update soon! Thanks for reading!


	15. Explosion at Stark Tower

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi everyone. I'm back. I know it has been a while since my last update, and I really don't have a good excuse. I hope you enjoy this chapter.

Tony wiped a bead of sweat from his brow as he leaned back from his work. It was the next mark of the Iron Man suit and it had taken him a solid month to work out all the kinks. But it was totally worth it. He’d managed to take the stealth technology from the quinjet, and downsize it. Putting it into the armor was a little more difficult, but he’d had a long time to figure it out. He spent most of his time in the lab ever since Peter went on the run. It was an escape for him. A way out of having to think about what would happen to Peter now. 

Sighing he ran a hand through his hair before closing the project and moving on to work on an updated version of Peter’s web shooters. The ones he’d been working on with the spiderling before Ross framed him. Grabbing a couple of tools, he began fine-tuning everything. About an hour later his phone started ringing. 

“Friday, send that to voicemail,” he said not even looking up from his work.

“I can’t do that boss,”

“Why not?” Tony responded in frustration looking up from his table. 

“It’s a priority call from secretary Ross.” Tony brought a hand over his face closing his eyes for a second. 

“Answer the call and record the conversation would you Friday,” he finally said standing up and grabbing a drink from the mini fridge in the corner of the room. A few seconds later, the unmistakable voice of Ross filled the room.

“Tony,” he greeted shortly. “I’m going to make this simple. What I’m doing is for the good of the United States.”

“What you’re doing is wrong. I believe you had a decision to make last time we spoke. So what do you say, Ross?”

“I’m willing to bet you’re with your informant at the tower right now,” Ross started. Tony started to get a sick feeling in his stomach as Ross continued. “You see Tony, I can’t let you compromise national security.”

“Friday mute this call and prepare the mark 49 armor for deployment,” Tony said quickly. Locking all of his projects away in a safe, he stepped into the armor as soon as it was ready. A few seconds later, a large explosion shook the building sending pieces of the ceiling down onto each other.

“Shit,” Tony cursed as a large beam fell down nearly crushing him. When the shaking stopped, he hastily stood up and flew down the halls as quickly as he could. He reached the room where Michelle was staying and blasted the door off. The young girl was pinned by two large rocks, a large cut was on her forehead and she lay eerily still. 

“Vitals?” Tony prompted his AI.

“Stable at the moment. Though readings show the possibility of a concussion.”

He nodded at the diagnosis and began removing debris. When he finally was able to lift the last of the rubble, he gently set her down away from the rocks. Looking around, he saw her laptop, relatively unscathed and set it down next to her. He took a deep breath knowing what he needed to do. 

“Friday, call Steve Rogers.”

******************************************************************************

Everyone was sitting in the kitchen when the call came. The unmistakable sound of ringing coming from the tiny flip phone that Steve had with him at all times. The room stopped, looking towards the former Captain as he reached into his pocket and pulled out the device. He stared at it for a second before answering.

“Tony,” he said as a greeting as everyone held their breath.

“A bomb just exploded in Stark Tower. Ross isn’t taking the deal. He’s trying to kill us.” Steve’s eyes widened in shock. 

“Are you ok?”

“Yeah, but MJ was hurt in the explosion. I need to place her somewhere. Ross knows I have a partner. He doesn’t know who it is and I don’t want him finding out.”

“So what do you want from us?” Steve asked.

“I need you guys to take her. If we need a drop spot that’s fine but I have to get her out of here,” Tony responded. The sound of the suit taking flight came over the speaker. Steve looked around the room. The group seemed conflicted. What if this was some sort of trap? But at the same time could they really ignore this and possibly make a decision that would ultimately lead to a young girl’s death? Finally, Natasha spoke up. 

“We’ll text you the address of a meeting point. Try to lay low and don’t seem suspicious.” She then took the phone and hung up.

“What do we do now?” Wanda asked. 

“We prepare for the worst, but hope that Stark keeps his word,” Natasha replied. “Get ready. We don’t know what to expect.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What'd you think? Any ideas for what's coming next? Sorry again for the large gap between updates. I really can't promise that I will have another chapter up anytime soon. But I will do my best. Until next time!


	16. Not Letting Go

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, guys, I'm back! I have the next couple of chapters planned out. But I'm not sure how long it will be before I update. I'm traveling right now so I may have extra time, or I may have no time at all. But regardless, I hope you all enjoy this chapter.

Steve shifted uncomfortably on the bench he sat on. He had been waiting there for well over an hour and his patience was running thin. A blue baseball cap rested over his head covering the top half of his face in a dark shadow. A pair of black sunglasses rested upon the bridge of his nose. He wiggled his nose around a little using the newspaper in front of his face to hide the movement. 

“Rogers,” Natasha’s annoyed voice came through his comm. It was quiet but firm as it continued. “If you don’t stop fidgeting you're going to give us away.”

“I’m barely moving. And how can you even see me?”

Natasha looked up from her phone. Her now brown, almost black, hair was in a braid and pulled over her shoulder. Blue contact lenses changed the appearance of her eye color. She had earbuds in appearing to be listening to music while she used her burner phone to eavesdrop on conversations around her. She had a large cup of coffee in front of her with a small pastry on the side. All in all, she looked nothing like the fearless former assassin she was, and instead looked like a millennial on a coffee break. Steve may have needed to be recognizable for the handoff to happen, but Natasha wanted to be completely under the radar.

“Guys, can we please focus on the mission right now?” Came Wanda’s voice void of her native Sokovian accent in order to help her blend in. She sat with a cup of tea in her hands, long wavy red hair flowing down her back. She chose to wear sunglasses instead of contact lenses and relied on her powers to subtly help her divert people’s attention elsewhere. 

Natasha allowed herself a small smirk at the comment before she started to hear static in her earbuds. She carefully looked around trying not to draw attention to herself. That’s when she saw them. 

The teen appeared like she was at least trying to blend in, even with the large laceration that had clearly been stitched up recently. And she was doing a pretty good job for a civilian. She seemed invisible which was perfect for blending in. Tony, however, was doing a horrendous job of keeping a low profile. He strutted into the square in the most obvious hoodie and hat that may as well have screamed I’m not supposed to be here.

She quickly averted her gaze in order to keep attention away from herself. Tony walked up to the bench were Steve was sitting and sat down. A couple of people turned to stare seeming to notice something familiar about the man in the hoodie. Steve carefully ignored the billionaire keeping his eyes firmly glued to the paper in front of him. 

“God you must feel at home reading that old thing,” Tony said quietly to the former Captain gesturing rather obviously to the newspaper. Natasha scowled at how horrible he was at blending in. Hell, even Steve was better the first time they went on the run from Shield. 

“Wanda,” she whispered softly. “I need you to get those people to stop paying attention to them.” She watched carefully as Wanda casually put her empty teacup down and walked out of the store. She was passing by the bench when she feigned having a call going to a nearby tree to ‘talk’ with the person on the other end of the line. Her eyes glowed red under her sunglasses as she diverted people’s minds to other things. No one was quite sure why the fire hydrant by the restaurant looked so interesting.

“Is that her?” Steve asked quietly not taking his eyes off the page. 

“No its some random teenager I kidnapped,” Tony said sarcastically. The tension between the two of them was intense. 

“I thought you already did that in Germany,” Steve said nonchalantly. Tony growled at the reply but tried to keep his temper.

“Look I’m working on getting Ross off your backs but until I figure something out she needs to stay with you.” Steve lowered the paper from his eyes glancing around the square until his gaze landed on a young girl taking pictures, appearing to act like a normal tourist.

“She knows who we are?” 

“Of course. I pointed you out before I got here so she knows who you are.” 

Steve nodded.

“Then call me when you have an update. Until then, you need to leave so we can get her to safety.”

Tony looked like he was about to argue Steve stopped him before he could start. 

“We can’t all leave at the same time. Don’t you think that will look a little suspicious? Now go.” 

Stark maintained his glare for a few moments before standing up and hurriedly leaving the area. After a few moments, Steve spoke up to his teammates. 

“Nat, you got eyes on the girl?”

“Yep. She’s not bad at this. How do you want to do this?” 

“Can you get her to meet up with Wanda? I want them to exit the park together. Look like a couple of friends meeting up.”

“I’m on it,” Natasha replied quickly accessing the girl’s phone and typing out a message. 

“Wanda,” Steve began as she sent the order. “You can approach her in ten seconds.”

“Ok, I’m beginning my approach,” she confirmed making her way to the target.

A joyful greeting could be heard as Wanda made contact followed by an awkward hug and the girls linking arms. 

“Ditch the tech and meet at the rendezvous point,” Steve instructed they walked by leaving the square.

“Ok Steve they’re clear,” Natasha said after a few tense minutes of waiting. 

“You go south. I’ll go north in about thirty minutes. See you there.”

With that Steve discreetly grabbed his comm and crushed it. Hiding it in the paper for another half hour before throwing it and the paper away and making his way to the meeting spot. Nat had left earlier rambling something about being late to yoga on her way out.

Around two hours later after circling around six times to ensure he wasn’t being followed, Steve finally made it to the quinjet. In stealth mode, it was impossible to see, but on entering he found all three of them impatiently waiting for takeoff as they made their way to the safehouse.

******************************************************************************

Peter was sitting in the kitchen eating a banana when he heard the roar of the quinjet engines. Finally. He’d been waiting all day for Steve, Natasha, and Wanda to get back. They were gone on this top-secret mission that they refused to tell him anything about. Abandoning the half eaten fruit he raced outside to greet his friends.

Wanda walked out first. She was wearing a green sweater that draped loosely over her shoulders. She also had on black leggings and was carrying a pair of nice shoes. So an undercover assignment then, Peter thought to himself. 

Steve came out next. He looked mostly normal aside from the sunglasses he was holding and the baseball cap that did a poor job of hiding his features. Natasha was at his side, but she looked completely different. 

The person who followed them, however, made his heart stop. And not just because it was another passenger. MJ walked out of the plane nervously. Well, she may not have seemed nervous to most people, but Peter could tell. Her hair was down, perfectly framing her beautiful face.

“MJ?” Peter asked quietly not really believing it. She seemed to have heard him somehow. She looked up making eye contact with him stopping in her tracks. Peter stood there for a second before running forward throwing his arms around her and pulling her into a deep passionate kiss. After they finally broke apart gasping for air, he had tears in his eyes. Held on to her. Embracing her not wanting to let go. He never wanted to let go.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please let me know what you thought of the chapter! I really enjoyed writing it. Like I said updates will probably be a little spread out but I am still writing! Also, who saw Spider-Man Far From Home. Because I have already seen it twice and I'm am dying it was so good!


	17. Change Comes Rapidly

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow! Two days in a row. This chapter was really interesting to write so I hope you enjoy.

Michelle stared out the window of her bedroom as she contemplated how much her life had changed in the last few months. It didn’t seem so long ago that she had been stressing over midterms, dodging her mom’s shady boyfriends, and seriously crushing on a guy who she thought would have no interest in her. And then she was attacked in an alley and her life changed. Suddenly she was the girlfriend of Spider-Man. Sure she had to worry about school and home-life, but everything was different. 

And just as she was settling. Just as she began to be comfortable with who she was and how she lived her life, the universe shook her and threw everything she loved into the line of fire. Her boyfriend was on the run. Minimal contact if any for weeks on end. Then his aunt was killed. While they weren’t the closest of people, she was probably the only thing MJ had that resembled what a mother should be. Warm. Kind. Loving. She certainly didn’t get that from her own mother that’s for sure. And the worst part was she knew Peter had to have been in unspeakable amounts of pain and grief. And she could do nothing about it. 

She wasn’t there to comfort him. Or grieve with him. Neither of them could go to the funeral and watch her buried right next to Peter’s Uncle Ben. They didn’t get to see her laugh one last time or smile after Peter did something stupidly adorable. And then, after all that. As if they haven’t been through enough. She gets blown up and has to go on the run. At least they get to see each other now. The silver lining in their terrible situation. 

“Are you ok?” Peter’s voice broke her thoughts. She inhaled deeply, closing her eyes for a second. 

“Yeah,” she said trying to seem confident. She knew that it was a terrible attempt. 

“You don’t seem like it. What’s wrong?” he asked sitting down next to her with a sincere expression on his face. She sighed considering her options before responding. 

“A couple of weeks ago, I was this normal teenage girl. Completely average New Yorker with no complicated life or ridiculously convoluted story to tell. And now I sleep down the hall from Hawkeye in an unknown location on the run from the governments of the world. It feels like everything changed overnight.”

Peter nodded as she spoke. 

“I understand that,” He began softly. “I don’t think I ever told you why I chose to become Spider-Man.”

The temperature of the room seemed to drop as he said that. MJ turned to him her eyes wide. 

“Peter, it’s ok. You don’t have to…”

“I want to,” he cut her off. He took a deep breath. “I told you how I was bitten by a radioactive spider on that field trip. I felt sick for a little while and then suddenly I could stop a bus with my bare hands. Well, May and Ben were a little tight with money so… I decided to wrestle. It was illegal but I never got caught. I helped out with bills and stuff but I kept blowing off spending time with them so I could beat people up for sport. One day, Uncle Ben confronted me about it. And I yelled at him. Blew him off. I went back to do another match. And when I won, the guy wouldn’t give me the money. 

“As I was walking out, this guy came through the doors. Held a gun to everyone in the room and stole everything. I could have stopped him. He ran right by me. But I didn’t. I let him go out of spite. I was walking home when I saw Ben dying on the sidewalk. He couldn’t say anything. So I just watched as he bled out. When I found the guy who shot him. I was going to kill him. And then I saw his face. The same guy who I let escape, murdered my uncle. And my whole world changed. You should have never been dragged into this. It’s my fault. I’m sorry.” A tear rolled down Peter’s cheek as he finished the story. And MJ sat there stunned. It was some really heavy stuff that was for sure. When he looked down in shame, she reached her hand out touching his face. 

“It’s not your fault,” she stated firmly.

“I just feel like I’m always putting the people I care about in danger.”

MJ pulled him into a hug he leaned onto her looking like a kicked puppy as another tear cascaded downwards. When he stopped crying, they leaned into each other meeting for a kiss. It started slow but gradually became more desperate. Passion flowing through both of them.

They broke apart for a moment before Peter smiled.

“Thank you,” he whispered softly before leaning in for another kiss.

Their hot breaths mingled together in the air as their lips parted slowly and pressed gently together. As they touched, a large bang was suddenly heard downstairs. They quickly broke apart as the sound of bullets filled their ears. 

“Run.”

With that, Peter sped down the hallway leaping over the banister and down the staircase. He saw Natasha with two pistols in her hand crouched behind the couch. Steve had flipped a chair over and was trying to slide it across the room to engage. Clint was letting loose a flurry of arrows at the intruders as random objects in outlined in a glowing red flew through the air eliminating anything in their path. 

Somehow, the task force had found them. Regretfully, the rogue avengers made a hasty retreat taking out as many agents as they could without using deadly force. When they arrived at the quinjet, all the families were already on board along with MJ, Scott, and Sam. Steve and Natasha both sprinted forward Peter following not far behind.

Steve’s boots landed on the ramp just as a scream pierced through the air. Turning back to look, he saw Peter convulsing on the ground slightly before dropping into unconsciousness. 

“Peter!” he screamed in worry turning to run back towards the teen. But his thoughts were silenced as a single sound rang through the day. The loud bang that comes after a bullet has been fired. 

The odd thing about a gunshot is that after the initial sound, there is complete silence. The world becomes muted as the metal object hurtles towards its target. When the bullet hits, it is quiet. It pierces the skin cutting through and allowing blood to begin seeping out through the large hole it left behind. But throughout everything, there is no noise. 

The noise after a gunshot comes as a body hits the ground seconds later. The noise comes when the target shrieks in pain when crimson liquid flows through their fingers as they desperately try to claw at their wound. The sound comes, as their family and friends realize what happened. As they scream at the victim to stay alive. As they scream in shock at their fallen friend. 

That is why all Steve is aware of after the loud crack that indicates a bullet leaving a weapon, was silence. A complete lack of sound. It was a terrifying few seconds of nothingness. After a few moments he hears things again, but they're blended together. Someone’s voice. The loud rumble of an engine. A scream from someone who seemed to be in pain.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> DUN DUN DUN. I know I'm a terrible person for ending the chapter there. I know you must have lots of questions. Like 'what happened to Peter?' and 'Is Steve going to be ok?'. Well, here's the thing. I am a hypocrite. So I am going to complain about it when other authors do it, but I'm still going to do it myself. I needed to end the chapter here because there's a lot to cover in the next few chapters. Anyway, I am going to try and write tomorrow too, but I'm not sure if I'll be able to. But hopefully, this ending will motivate me to write more quickly. Please comment to let me know what you think because comments also help motivate me to write the next chapter. Until next time!


	18. In the Sky

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi, this note is going to be brief because my roommate is waiting for me to finish so we can shut the lights off and hit the sack. I hope you like this chapter. Please comment! I think that's everything. I'll try to update soon. Ok, goodnight.

Natasha screamed as she saw the scene play out in front of her. Peter was hit from behind with a taser of some kind. He had helplessly flopped to the floor like a fish out of water, but not before letting out a terrible shriek. One that would forever be engraved in her memory.

She turned around to see Steve running back towards the fallen hero, only for a bullet to lodge painfully in his chest. The thud as his body hit the ramp of the quinjet was sickening. The sight as blood began to stain the floor was horrible. His eyes stared at the wall but they were glassy and unseeing. 

She was always used to seeing him move around. He never sat still always having to fiddle with something or walk around. It was one of the reasons he was terrible at lying and going on the run. He’d shift nervously when he lied. It was subtle, but she could always see it. It was kind of cute when he tried to get stuff past her. He’d never succeed, but he did try.

Movement was just a part of him. That and his amazing smile. The infectious one the corrupted other people with a sense of safety or joy. The one that lit up the room when he entered. Seeing his blank face and motionless body was a terrifying experience. She nearly jumped when someone tapped her on the shoulder. Closing her eyes, she took a second to collect herself before locking her emotions away and taking charge. Someone had to. 

“Clint get this thing in the sky now!” She shouted dragging Steve into the quinjet. 

“What about Peter!?” MJ screamed in worry. “We can’t just leave him here.”

Natasha was flooded with guilt. Over the last few weeks, she’d come to think of Peter fondly. If she ever had a child, an impossible feat, she’d want them to be like him. He was amazing. The closest thing to a son she’d ever have ever since her sterilization. But if they didn’t leave they’d all be caught. 

It had been an ambush. They didn’t have a whole lot of firepower. She was pretty sure Sam’s wings were inside the safehouse. Scott had his suit, and Wanda had her powers. But Clint was preparing for takeoff and she and Sam had maybe half a round each. Steve was out of commission, Peter was down. And they had four children and a teenager on the plane along with Laura. There was no way to get to Peter without someone getting killed in the crossfire. 

“We can’t do anything right now,” she said gulping a tear threatened to fall down her face but she held it back. She couldn’t start crying now. She couldn’t crack under the stress. The engines roared to life and everyone held on and the force of the takeoff pushed them back. As soon as they stabilized she raced back over to Steve’s side.

“Get Clint and Sam back here now,” She said looking at Wanda who nervously nodded before running to the cockpit. 

“I can’t believe you just left him!” MJ cried out yelling at the former spy. 

“If I didn’t, we’d all be dead.”

The doors whooshed open and the two men walked into the room. 

“What the hell happened?” Sam asked running the rest of the short distance when he saw his best friend bleeding on the table.

“He was hit on the way in. Peter is down but we had to leave,” Natasha explained grabbing medical supplies from nearby cupboards. 

“Would you get her out of here?” Clint said gesturing to the frazzled girl crying silently on the side on the room. Sam nodded leading her by the elbow and taking her to be with the rest of the families on board. As soon as he was gone, the archer turned to his partner noticing the guilty slouch in her demeanor. He wasn’t sure anyone else would have recognized it. Maybe Cap if he weren’t so busy dying. She worked quickly connecting IV’s and fluids not making a noise as she did so. He could sense the worry radiating off her and put a hand on her shoulder. She tensed slightly and the touch.

“Natasha… it's ok. It’s not your fault,” he said gently. She carefully removed his hand continuing to treat Steve.

“After everything that I’ve done, after this, how could you say that? I left him there.”

“Doesn’t sound like you had much of a choice.”

Natasha didn’t look up but she did stop moving around for a moment. Pausing to look him in the eyes.

“Look, I know you feel bad. But this isn’t over. We’ll find Peter and get enough on Ross to make him pay. Right now, we need to focus on making sure your boyfriend doesn’t bleed out.”

She nodded slowly as Sam returned to the room and they began the long procedure of removing the bullet. It was different than a normal one. Barbs extended out from the sides having released on impact. Pulling it out was a long painful process. What made matters worse, was when a loud scream echoed throughout the enclosed space. 

While the super soldier wasn’t completely aware of his surroundings, he was definitely awake. But the shelves were bare of any sedative that would have an effect on him. They’d finally made some progress in getting the bullet out when he began to lash out at everyone. He flailed and kicked like a wild buck. 

“Wanda!” Natasha called out in desperation. She was their last hope of getting Steve to at the very least calm down. The redhead quickly burst into the room her hair whipping behind her as the door slid shut. “We need your help.”

“I don’t know if that's a good idea.”

“It's the only one we have.”

She hesitated for a moment before nodding. Her eyes began to glow red as she reached out to the man on the bed mentally urging him to sleep. She began sweating in exertion before the glowing ceased and her knees buckled from underneath her. She gasped drawing in heavy breaths closing her eyes as the room around her spun. She felt a hand on her back guiding her until she was up against a wall and a cool cup of water was pressed into her hands. She sipped it allowing herself to relax for a second and regain her bearings. Finally, she opened her eyes. 

She was sitting in the corner of the room outside the doors leading to Steve. An arm was wrapped around her shoulders in a comforting manner. Looking up, she saw Clint. His eyes were closed his mouth slightly open. A soft rumble of a snore told her he was asleep. Silently she stood up walking over to the doors. They swung open to reveal Natasha asleep with her head on Steve’s muscular chest. She stirred slightly when the door opened and remembering what happened last time someone accidentally woke her up the Sokovian quickly and quietly retreated from the room.

They were all safe. And mostly ok, with the exception of Peter. It was terrifying not knowing where he was or what was happening to him. She knew first hand what Ross and his men were like. She remembered the horrors of the Raft and she hoped that he wouldn’t have to have those experiences too. All she knew was that they had to get him back. And she knew no one in their family of rogue avengers would disagree.

******************************************************************************

**_A FEW HOURS LATER_ **

**_THE RAFT PRISON_ **

 

Peter awoke to a searing pain shooting through his body. His hands immediately went to the source. Something around his neck was hurting him, and his first instinct was to get it off. But the moment his hands touched the cool metal encircling him, another jolt of agonizing pain shot through him.

“I wouldn’t do that Spider-Man,” a voice sneered. He wasn’t sure where the voice was coming from. Carefully, he stood up and looked around. He was in some sort of cell. A small cot was next to him, but excluding that everything was bare. Walking towards the glass in the front of the cell, he squinted his eyes to see through. 

Even though they’d never met, Peter knew exactly who this mysterious man was. He was the one responsible for everything that had gone wrong recently. He was the reason Peter was on the run, the reason May was dead, the reason he hadn’t seen Tony in months, the reason MJ was hurt and a fugitive now as well. His white hair stood out against his uniform, the wrinkles of age visible on his face. There in front of him was Secretary Ross. 

“Hello Peter, I believe we have much to discuss.”


	19. Welcome to the Raft

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi everyone! Time for the next chapter. This one will focus on what happens to Peter. I hope you enjoy!
> 
> Please note there are mentions of torture in this chapter.

It had been a couple of days since Peter arrived on the Raft floating prison, but to him, it felt like a lifetime. He was woken up every morning by a painful electric shock from his collar. A guard would throw in a grey prison jumpsuit and then stand outside as he changed. It was humiliating, to say the least. He hadn’t eaten breakfast in days. In fact, in the last week, he’d only eaten one time.

After changing, he was taken down below the prison and led into a locked hallway. The hall was always a creepy place to be. It wasn’t as well maintained as the rest of the prison. The lights were always dim, and the sounds of people being tortured were always prevalent. His room was at the end of the hall. It was always blinding as he entered. While the hall was dark and ominous, the room had bright white lights and white walls. 

They chained him to a table and if he was lucky, gave him enough sedative to reduce the pain. They still hadn’t been able to fully knock him out. Not like it mattered. He passed out from the experiments anyway. He always woke up in his cell, fully bathed and changed. A scientist would come in later with a cart full of vials. They’d inject drug after drug just to see how they would affect him. 

That was why he was currently strapped down to his uncomfortable cot. His body was covered in sweat and his hair was a complete mess of tangled brown curls. He writhed in pain that seemed to be coming from everywhere moaning as it felt like his insides were being burnt up. He’d tried to escape the first couple of days, but he couldn’t anymore. His neck burned from the shock of the electric control device. 

A tear slipped down his face. He missed everyone. He wondered what had happened to them after he got caught. He hadn’t seen into any of the other cells and his torturers weren’t exactly the talkative type. He learned that the hard way too. He was shaken from his thoughts by a voice calling out his name. But this one was different than the harsh guards or the terrifying scientists. It wasn’t the rasp of the secretary or the curious voice of an observer. It was a voice he thought he’d never hear again. He slowly opened his eyes and turned his head his body going completely still as he saw who was on the other side.

“Aunt May?” he whispered hollowly on seeing his deceased mother figure. She was standing next to him her brown hair cascading down her face. Her glasses rested on the bridge of her nose as she stared at her nephew. Her soft brown eyes gently stared at his prone vulnerable form.

“Hi Peter,” she said softly. She walked across the room and sat on the edge of his bed running a hand through his hair. “You look awful.”

“I… I feel awful,” he responded never taking his eyes off of her.

“Have you ever thought you might deserve it?” Peter's eyes shot wide open in surprise. 

“Your not real,” he concluded tearfully. “I’m hallucinating. You’re dead. Ross killed you.”

“Because of you,” she said forcefully her eyes full of sadness. “Spider-Man killed me. You going out and being a menace to society instead of being responsible and turning yourself in. If you hadn’t run off with Captain America and his band of fugitive bastards I’d still be alive right now!”

Peter let out a sob as he heard this. He knew it wasn’t real but it was so hard to forget. He could smell the scent of her perfume and feel the velvet touch of her hand as she stroked his head. Her words made everything going on around him insignificant. She was dead because of him.

“It’s your fault, Peter. Just like Ben. We’re both so disappointed in you. You let us die.”

“NO!!!!” Peter screamed trying to shrink away from his aunt. “No, it’s… this isn’t happening it's not real.”

“Real enough! You know it's your fault, Peter. Why didn’t you save us?” with that, she retracted her warm comforting hand, the bed shifted as she stood up and walked towards the door. 

“I love you May,” Peter cried desperately. “Please don’t leave me!”

“I’m sorry Peter.”

Her form retreated out the door as the teen screamed in pain. This was a hundred times worse than anything that he’d ever experienced because he knew it was his fault. Her body, her blood was on his hands. So was Ben’s. He was the last surviving Parker because he killed the competition. 

“NO! NO!  Please! I’m sorry! Please come back!” He screamed over and over struggling in his restraints. His wrists bled as they cut deep into his skin. In the corner of the room, a scientist by the name of Doctor Delroy Pax, watched as he thrashed around begging for someone.

No one had been there beside him and the head scientist. But it didn’t matter to the kid. They’d injected the teen with a drug he’d designed to use on enemy agents. He made it to help defend his country from spies and terrorists, not to test on innocent children. 

“Please… I don’t want to be alone again,” Peter whimpered more tears streaming down his cheeks.

Delroy closed his eyes his head bent in shame. He had to do something about this. He couldn’t just let the kid suffer. Quietly he exited the room trying not to listen to the continued please of the spider child. Walking down the hallway he pulled out his phone going through all his contacts. Years ago, before Afghanistan, he worked for Stark Industries. He was a chief scientist in the biological weapons development program until the billionaire inventor returned and announced the closing of the section. He along with countless others lost their jobs.

But before he was locked out of the system, he gave himself a back door. A way into the software that ran the company. He knew he would only ever be able to use it once. After it was activated, Tony would be able to find it immediately. But that’s exactly what he was hoping for. He opened the software and began probing into the depths of Stark enterprises. Entering a series of codes, he gained access quickly writing down the phone number that appeared on the screen.

Within seconds, Friday locked him out again. But it had been enough time. Taking a deep breath he made his way into the bathroom and locked the door, then he let his finger hover over the call button. He didn’t want to have to talk to his former boss. He’d never planned on it either. He could walk away. He could delete the number, walk back outside. Go home to his wife and daughter.

But how could he ever face his daughter again if he didn’t help Peter? He couldn’t face her if the kid died from one of these sick and twisted tests. He couldn’t let him suffer. Especially since Spider-Man only ever tried to do good. He’d saved lives. Taking in a deep breath the doctor brought his finger down onto the screen and pressed the call button. There was no going back now.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What'd you think? Please comment and let me know because this chapter was actually pretty difficult to write. Until next time!


	20. Coordinates

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone! I'm back. I hope that you enjoy this chapter. I can't believe I'm twenty chapters in. I wasn't even sure I'd make it this far, so thank you so much for all the support and suggestions that everyone has given me. Everyone is always so kind and positive so thank you for everything. It really means a lot to me.

Tony sat in his chair staring at the screen in front of him. Ever since Natasha called and told him Steve had been shot and Peter was taken by Ross, he hadn’t stopped working on locating them. The Raft Prison had moved since the last time he’d been there, and his access had been revoked anyway. 

“Boss, I believe that you require sleep if you wish to function at full capacity,” Came Friday’s overly cheery voice from above him. The billionaire rolled his eyes. He wasn’t sure why the AI was still active at the moment. He should have muted her ages ago, but she offered the only semblance of comfort he could get while Pepper was in California and Rhodey was in Washington DC.

“Friday run the trace again.” He rolled his chair over to the other side of the room. He grabbed the pot of coffee he’d made earlier and refilled his mug again. The side of the mug had the words #1 Superhero printed on the side. It was a gift from Peter from his birthday. As he took the first sip of the black elixir, the ring of his phone filled his ears. It made his head spin for a second before he closed his eyes and took a calming breath allowing the world to stop spinning.

“Friday send the caller to voicemail,” he said scooting his chair back in front of his computer and letting his hands once again fly over the keyboard. 

“He says its urgent Boss.”

“I don’t care Friday. If it's not about Peter, I don’t have time.”

“He claims to be a scientist on the Raft prison sir.”

Tony’s world stopped as he stammered asking for the call to be put through. His heart was racing. This could be a trap, or it could be a miracle. And at this point, he didn’t care which one it was. 

“Talk,” he demanded when the line connected. 

“Mr. Stark? My name is Dr. Delroy Pax. I know what you're looking for, but you have to help me.”

“How do I know you're not lying?” Tony asked while silently tracing the call. 

“Peter. He’s here. He talked about his aunt and uncle. Something about feeling like it was his fault. I don’t know what else I could tell you,” The genius leaned back in his seat considering. 

“What do you want?” he finally asked.

“My family. If Ross finds out I told you he’ll kill them. You get them off the grid and protected, I can give you the location of the Raft and let you in when you arrive.”

“I can do that,” Tony agreed quickly desperate for any lead on where Peter might be. 

“I will tell Isabelle and Violet to fly to New York tonight. Someone will take them to a secure location.”

“Fine. Where’s Peter?”

“I’ll send you the coordinates after my family lands.”

******************************************************************************

**THAT NIGHT**

**UNKNOWN CLEARING**

 

Steve groaned as he sat up in bed. After he woke up, he’d wanted to immediately go and search for Peter. But Natasha had forced him to promise at least a week of bed rest. Which he promptly ignored. But every time he tried to leave, someone cut him off. It was getting annoying, especially since the length of time extended after he’d ripped his stitches. He was frustrated that he couldn’t do anything. 

Why did it matter whether or not he was ok? Recovering Peter was most certainly more important. So when the little phone his girlfriend accidentally left in his room started ringing, he didn’t hesitate to pick it up. 

“Hi, Tony.”

“Cap, I have a lead on Peter. I know where he is.”

******************************************************************************

**THE NEXT DAY**

**OUTSIDE NEW YORK CITY**

 

“So the family is safe?” Tony asked as he parked his convertible outside the quinjet. He seemed nervous. 

“Ross will never find them,” Natasha confirmed. 

“You up for this Capsicle?” 

“I’ve been shot before Tony. I know what I’m doing. I know my limits,” Steve responded slightly touched that his former friend cared enough to ask. 

“Good. I brought something for you,” he said opening the trunk to his expensive car. He took out a large object covered in a tarp and handed it to the fugitive. Steve carefully removed the tarp and took a sharp intake of breath. The colors of his former uniform shining on the metallic surface of the shield in his hands. 

“Tony, I don’t know…”

“Look, I made some mistakes. Turns out resentment is corrosive and I hate it. Plus, we need to do everything we can to get Peter back. You're my best hope right now.”

Wordlessly Steve nodded. It was a lot to take in. He hadn’t touched the shield in over a year. It was terrifying to think about sometimes. The shield belonged to Captain America, and he hadn’t been that man in over a long time.

“Thank you, Tony,” he said sincerely. 

“Yep, don’t get too emotional or anything,” Tony said pushing past everyone and entering the jet. “Oh, and by the way, you might want to shave the beard.”

The super soldier rolled his eyes at the antics before following his lead and boarding.

“Ok birdies we’re clear for takeoff,” Tony said as he entered. He walked to the cockpit to see Clint and Sam at the helm. Clint shook his head smirking while Sam looked mildly offended.

“Are you the one who wrote that receipt?” he asked incredulously.

“No of course not… I got the bookkeeper to write it.”

“Let’s get going boys, we got a spider to save,” Natasha said entering the front of the plane. She wore her traditional jumpsuit with the emblem of her name on the belt. A few guns were holstered on her hips and thighs and everyone knew she had multiple knives hidden on her. Although the only one who knew exactly where those were was Steve. Her hair was back to its original red color and it was straightened falling against her shoulders. 

Clint nodded as the engines started up and they began to fly higher into the sky. Tony relayed the coordinates and landing point that Dr. Delroy had given him and they were off. Speeding off across the Atlantic preparing for a final offensive against Ross. Steve came back into the room wearing his uniform, be it slightly modified. 

The colors were a lot darker than anything he’d worn before, but it fit. After everything that had happened over the last couple of years after waking up from the ice, he wasn’t sure he could’ve worn his original costume again. Wanda entered behind him. Scott had been left to watch over Laura and all the kids. Everyone looked around at themselves nervously. It had been a long time since they’d been in the same room. Even longer since they’d worked together. But if it got their Spider back it’d be worth it. 

“Hold on a little longer Peter,” Tony whispered quietly. “I’m coming.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There you have it! The Tony and the rogue avengers finally reuniting for Operation: Save the Spider. Please comment and let me know what you think.


	21. Operation: Save the Spider

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi everyone! So, this is it. This is the final chapter. I want to thank everyone for reading and following me throughout this process. I loved writing this story and it was incredible to go on this journey with you guys. I am planning a sequel so there will be information in the Author’s Note at the end of the chapter about that. I hope you enjoy the last chapter of Safe House. Please comment your thoughts. Without further ado, let’s continue the story.

The group landed quietly, the quinjet hovering slightly above the landing pad. Stealthily, the extraction team moved out. Tony, Steve, Natasha, and Wanda all landed gently on the wet floor, trying to remain silent as they carefully moved to a side door. The door opened the moment they reached it, a man in a white lab coat standing on the other side. He had brownish hair with light green eyes. 

“Dr. Delroy?” Steve questioned as they entered. The man nodded handing the group his spare key card so they could access the different parts of the building. 

“Yes. The cameras are down for this hallway, but I couldn’t do anything else. If I do not return to work soon, they will become suspicious.”

“Go on Doc, we’ll take it from here,” Tony said pushing the man out of the hallway. 

“Wait! My family…” he started in protest before Wanda cut him off.

“Is fine. Now leave,” she said dangerously her eyes flashing red. The man nodded nervously, before turning and walking away from the group. Wanda watched as he left. She hated this place. This was where she was put in a straight-jacket, a shock collar around her neck. They chained her to the wall like a rabid dog and ran experiment after experiment. Even when she was with Strucker, volunteering with Hydra, she was treated better than she had been on this floating torture chamber.

Most of what she remembered from here was pure agony. Painful flashes, drifting in and out of consciousness. It seemed like an eternity before Steve came, ripping the collar off and freeing her and the rest from their prison cells. But that didn’t mean the pain ended. She’d have random panic attacks, flashbacks. She could never sleep, and when she did she woke up screaming. She completely withdrew from everyone. For months it was the same thing. Sam had tried to work with her, get her to talk everything through, but nothing seemed to help.

It took her a long time to recover from that experience. Even now, the nightmares still woke her up. But it was better, and Peter had definitely helped. He was there for her. A friend who was closer to her age than anyone else on the team. He had his fair share of issues, but he’d overcome them. And somewhere along the way, Wanda had begun to think of him as a brother. 

“I shut down the rest of the cameras in the prison,” Tony announced. Breaking her train of thought. 

“Then let's split up,” Natasha suggested. Everyone nodded in consensus at the idea. Wanda went down the south hallway, while Tony went north. Natasha and Steve split up going down the east and west halls respectively. 

Tony wasn’t really one for stealth, but if it meant getting Peter back, he’d try anything. Which was why instead of blasting in with his suit like he wanted to, he crept carefully around the corner, successfully sneaking past all the guards. He was walking cautiously down the hallway when he heard a scream, without thinking he broke into a run.

Was that Peter? It had been so long since he’d seen him, but he would never forget the kid’s voice, or the sound of his screams. He didn’t know why or how, but somewhere along the road, he began to think of the kid like a son. And that thought was terrifying. His father was never around. He never paid any attention to him even when he acted out in desperation. 

He would never be a good father, which was why he never wanted to have children. But life had other plans. His entire world had been flipped on his side when he met Peter Parker, Spider-Man. The kid was amazing. He had the biggest heart Tony had ever known. Which was why he tried to distance himself at first. He didn’t want to cause the young Spiderling any pain. So, he sent the kid to Happy. Told his friend to deal with him instead.

And then the Vulture happened. When he’d gotten the call, he was horrified. After all, he’d been the one to take Peter’s suit away. And if he was killed because of that, he’d have never forgiven himself. But he’d been ok, well… he hadn’t needed immediate medical attention. After that, Tony knew he couldn’t keep pushing Peter away.

So he made some changes. Gave Peter a real internship, started spending time with him, tried to be everything his dad never was. And after everything that had happened, it still wasn’t enough to protect him. He’d failed. And now, he could hear his kid scream in pure pain in a floating Prison he’d helped to design. It wasn’t supposed to be for this. Another scream ripped through the air as Tony pushed himself to go faster, he had to save Peter. After all if he died, it’d be on him. A new name to add to the list of people that he’s killed. Only this time, the name would be of someone he thought of as a son.

He finally reached the source of the noise and blasted the door in front of him down. Alarms started blaring loudly, but he didn’t care. All he felt was anger and rage. Two scientists stood over Peter as the Spider writhed on his bed whimpering in pain. A series of drugs sat on a table next to the laid out neatly in a row. 

All he saw was red.

In an instant, both of Peter’s tormentors were thrown across the room. They hit the wall violently before sliding down to the ground. They were alive, but only barely. And the only reason Tony left them breathing, was because no matter what, he knew Peter would never want him to kill anyone. 

Quickly, the genius tore the restraints that had bound the Spider to the bed. Peter continued to whimper as he was scooped up in the arms of his mentor. 

“Guys, I found him,” Tony said into his comms.

“Good, everyone rendezvous at the quinjet. Natasha out.”

Tony nodded even though she couldn’t see him and made his way to the exit. He stopped in the hallway however when he saw a limp body in the hallway. Racing over, he checked Dr. Delroy’s pulse. But there was no life left in the man that had saved Peter. A large dark stain of blood covered the front of his shirt and lab coat. The situation reminded him too much of Yinsen. Looking down, Tony noticed a picture in the scientist’s hands. Taking it, he saw an image of three people. The smiling faces of the dead man’s wife and daughter were splattered with blood. The little girl would never see her father again.

“Put him down and step away from the body, Stark.”

Tony turned to see the angry face of secretary Ross behind the barrel of a gun. He hesitated, unsure of what to do. He couldn’t just leave Peter, but from where he was kneeling, there was no way he’d be able to get his helmet on safely in time. And Peter had no armor on whatsoever. 

“Get away or I will kill you. You are a traitor to the government of the United States. Now put the boy down and you both live.”

The room was silent. No one moved for a moment. The world seemed completely frozen. It was as if time had stopped at that exact second. When Tony made no move to surrender, a loud bang filled the air. A bullet flew towards his head as he closed his eyes, prepared for the end. At least he’d die with Peter. 

But just as the bullet flew through the air, a red aura filled the room. The metal projectile stopped midair not moving and the gun was ripped from Ross’ hands. Wanda floated at the edge of the room, a red energy pulsing around her. She was completely engulfed in a scarlet light. Reaching out her hand she mentally picked the Secretary up and threw him across the room, his back hit a column with a sickening snap as his screams filled the room.

Wanda paid no mind to his radiating feelings of pain. Ignoring his pleas for mercy, she allowed herself to float to the ground. The tap of her boots hitting the floor could be heard as she walked across the room. She knelt down next to him, looking down at his crippled form. He was responsible for so much pain. He was the reason her second family split apart. And he almost took away another brother. 

Bringing her hands down she grabbed his chin and forced him to look up at her. Fearfully he made eye contact trying to maintain an angry glare. Wanda smiled softly before feeling her powers flow through her and delving into his mind. 

Tony watched in shock as Wanda stood in front of a screaming Ross. They hadn’t moved in minutes and he didn’t really know what was going on. He knew Wanda had been discovering new powers, doing things they’d never even dreamed of. But this was beyond anything he’d expected. He couldn’t stay there observing though. Both of them needed to go. Carefully, he picked up Peter and made his way over to the glowing Sokovian. He put a gentle hand on her shoulder. The lights in the room flickered as she looked up at him.

“We have to go,” Tony said gesturing to the boy in his arms. Wanda looked down at the grey-haired man in front of her, a conflict raging inside her. Her need to protect Peter, and to exact vengeance on the one that hurt them both. After a couple of seconds, she nodded. The room returned to its original color and Ross slumped down on the wall. 

“He’s alive,” she said softly, her eyes never leaving his prone figure. As much as she hated him, she couldn’t kill him. It would only make him right about controlling people like her. But she was better than that. 

Quickly, they raced back to the quinjet meeting Steve and Natasha on board. Sam and Clint had them in the air in seconds. They were going home.

******************************************************************************

A sharp pain shot through his head as Peter tried to open his eyes. He wasn’t sure where he was as everything blurred in and out of focus. Trying to use his other senses, he noticed the lack of a tingling sense in his spine. It was the first time in what seemed like forever that he’d woken up without his Spidey Sense warning him of danger.

Something was different. Trying again, he pried his eyes open. Wrestling away the last feelings of unconsciousness, his vision cleared. He saw Tony first. The billionaire was holding his hand tightly the other acting as a pillow as he rested his head in sleep. Then he looked around and noticed that everyone was there. Natasha sat on Steve’s lap curled up against his sleeping form. Wanda sat with her head resting on Steve’s unoccupied shoulder, while Clint and Sam rested on the floor their heads falling against the wall.

And then there was MJ. She was lying on the bed next to him, her hands wrapped firmly around his shoulders and her face relaxed in sleep. She stirred slightly when he reached over trying to grab the cup of water sitting next to his bed. Her eyes fluttered open sleepily, but she woke up quickly upon seeing Peter’s awakened state. 

“Your awake!” she yelled, relief seeping into her voice. The other avengers jumped awake at the exclamation. Narrowing her eyes, she suddenly slapped Peter’s shoulder. “Don’t you dare get kidnapped again, Peter Parker!” she said. Leaning down she kissed him both of them losing themselves in the moment. Steve cleared his throat awkwardly as both teens broke apart blushing, realizing they just made out in front of Captain America. Their nervousness only increased when they thought about the Sex-Ed PSA he starred in.

“Sorry,” Peter said his cheeks red as tomatoes. Everyone laughed at the teen’s obvious discomfort. 

“It’s fine kid,” Tony reassured him. “We’ve all been there.”

That only seemed to embarrass the Spider more as he retreated under the covers of his hospital bed. The group spent hours catching up. Talking nonstop. They explained to Peter what happened after he was taken, and eventually they one by one left the room. Finally, it was just Peter and Tony. 

“Mr. Stark I just wanted to say…” Tony cut him off with a hug slightly surprising both of them. “Wow, this is nice,” Peter said as his mentor’s arms wrapped around him.

“I’m glad your ok,” Tony said emotionally. He kept his arms tightly wrapped around the Spider-Child.

“Me too.”

They both sat there in comfortable silence neither wanting the moment to end.

“Mr. Stark,” Peter finally said breaking the silence that had descended on the room. “What happens now?”

“Well…” Tony began nervously. He’d given a lot of thought into this and he knew it was what he wanted. He’d already asked Pepper, and she’d been overjoyed at the prospect. But he was still nervous. What if Peter said no? Taking a deep breath, he steeled himself. He could do this. “What do you think about becoming a Stark?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There it is. Please let me know what you thought of the chapter and of the story as a whole. I am considering writing a sequel, but I decided I would ask you guys. What do you think? Should I write a sequel? Let me know. Thanks again for reading. Goodbye for now!


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